


The Tale of the Sidera

by SpartaLazor



Series: The Legend of the Mid-World Sidera Series [1]
Category: Halo, Red vs. Blue, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-02
Updated: 2014-01-22
Packaged: 2017-12-13 19:16:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/827876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpartaLazor/pseuds/SpartaLazor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spartan Ashley B341 fought on the planet Reach until it's inevitable fall to the Covenant. After hijacking a Banshee, she attempts to escape onboard a Covenant Cruiser leaving the planet. That fails when she gets thrown into a slipspace rupture.</p><p>She awakes in a different world, where she learns of the man who is trying to take over all of the worlds he can find. Ashley and a few others are the only people who are willing to stop him.</p><p>Faced with an army with tech from multiple realms and realitys, and their nearly god-like leader, they must travel to several worlds, including the mysterious wasteland mid-world of the Sidera.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Chapter One: Ruptures

-Reach  
-August 30, 2552

Three Banshees flew through the skys of fire, the one leading the group leaving a trail of black smoke in its wake. 

The two following fired several rounds of plasma into the lead Banshee, aiming for the engines. Blue bolts hit the canopy, missing the target. The lead Banshee boosted forward, outrunning the latter two. 

"Suckers," Ashley B341 muttered. Her Banshee was smoking from the left engine, which would mean that she couldn't boost as much in order to avoid a malfunction. 

The Spartan was flying toward a Covenant Cruiser, which seemed to be making preparations for slipspace. She didn't know much about the Covenant modius operandi, or their ways of operating, but her best guess was on a slipspace jump. She had seen several others making their way out of the system this way, some still near the ground.

Ashley sighed as she floored the booster once again, risking the overheating and possible explosion of the engine. "Almost there," she muttered, ignoring the warning lights flashing on the inside of the Banshee.

A flash of blue appeared at the head of the ship, signaling an open slipace portal. This wasn't good. She accelerated one last time, managing to get through the hanger shield. Ashley kicked the canopy open in mid-air, and bailed, letting the Covenant vehicle crash into a pile of purple crates. 

She hit the ground, yellow shields flaring around her orange Air Assault armor. The Spartan jerked her MA5B off of her back, aiming it in all directions, only to see that there were no Covenant troops in the hanger. 

"That can't be right," Ashley thought aloud, lowering her Assault Rifle. "The Covenant must have know I was coming, they could track the Banshee." Her eyes wandered up to a Phantom held by docking clamps. "I guess that's my new ride."

Ashley took a look out of the hanger, and saw the warped space that engulfed the ship. "Slipspace," she shook her head. "Now I have to wait." 

She leaned against a wall, letting her thoughts wander around. Eventually, they settled on the fight that she and Noble Six had eariler. "Sucker," she said out loud. "I'm gonna live, and that kiss-ass no life will die on that glassed ball of dirt."

Even with all the malice that she had said it, she couldn't take it to heart. There was no way she could mean what she had said. She loved him too much.

All of a sudden, warning lights blared out across the hanger, signaling some disasterous event was about to unfold. Ashley looked up just in time to see the hanger's shields deactivate, sucking her out into the cold void of slipspace. There was no chance of surviving this at all...

...

Valhalla Outpost Number One  
Date Unknown

She cracked her eyes open, only to be blinded by the harshly bright sunlight. As she heard a few muffled voices, Ashley blinked a few times and her vison returned to normal. She took a good look around, noting her surroundings. She was in a building, laying on the ground, and there were three Spartans standing around her. Two were in red Mark VI armor, the other in orange Mark VI armor.

"Are you okay?" The voice came from the red Spartan holding a Battle Rifle. 

"Ugh... Yeah, I'm fine." Ashley took off her orange Air Assault helmet, letting her red hair fall to around her neck as she was inspecting her helmet for any damage. I shouldn't be alive. What the hell happened? She stood up, staggering as she tried to regain her balance.

"Holy shit! It's a girl! Dibs!" The orange one exclaimed.

Ashley looked up at him in surprise. She then punched him in the head as hard as she could. "Son of a bitch!" He exclaimed as he fell. That was weird. She didn't see any shields. Maybe he had them deactivated. 

The red Spartan holding a shotgun chuckled. "Can you hit Grif again so I don't have to?" he asked her. Ashley smiled. "Sure." She kicked the one called Grif as hard as she could in the stomach. 

Ashley turned to the one with the shotgun. "Now that that is out of the way, who are you?"

The one with the Battle Rifle answered. "I'm Simmons," he guestured to the one with the shotgun. "That's Sarge, he's in command here. Grif you already met." Grif moaned in response. Simmons looked at Ashley. "Who are you?"

Ashley put her helmet back on. "I am Ashley-B341."

"Why the hell do you have a number as a last name? That's weird," Sarge asked.

"Uh...because I'm a Spartan. Duh." 

"What the hell is a Spartan?" Grif asked as he stood up.

That was the single most stupid question that a Spartan could ask. "Is he for real?" Ashley asked Sarge.

"Sadly, he is real." Sarge answered with a sincere tone.

"Well, you should know what a Spartan is. After all, ya'll are Spartans."

"Really?" asked Simmons, unconvinced. "I don't think we are. Command never called us that."

"If you're not, then why are you wearing Spartan armor?" Ashley countered. It was a completely legit question.

"This is just what was issued to us. It's red, since we're Red Team," Simmons answered. "Mine's maroon, though. Grif's is orange because he's an dumbass."

"Red Team," She whispered to herself. Then she asked in a noraml tone; "Is Blue Team nearby?"

"Those dirty Blues are on the other side of this canyon. Why?" Sarge replied.

"I'll explain later," Ashley yelled as she sprinted out of the door, headed for the other side of the canyon. She had her helmet under her should, and let her hair feel the breeze. She reached the top of a hill, and noticed another base. Not too far from the base, there was a Phantom crashed in a waterfall. 

That had to be Blue Teams work. She had heard the exploits of Blue Team. Spartans 117, 87,and 104 were legends. She ran up into the base, there was no one inside. Ashley exited out the door opposite of the one she entered. She noticed three Spartans observing a Sangheili corpse. 

"What the hell is that?" The Spartan in teal armor asked, poking it with his foot. He had a Battle Rifle slung over his back, which he grabbed and checked the clip in it. "I could shoot it, if you want me to."

"No, Tucker, it's already dead," said the Spartan with gray-blue armor. He had a Sniper Rifle in his hands. "It looks like thing you gave birth to." 

"What the fuck, Church? Junior was a lot smaller," Tucker shot back. 

"Well, it's been like, a while, since we last saw him. Things grow."

"Heck yeah they do. My thing grows all the time. Bow-chicka-wow-wow." 

That was way too much information, Ashley thought. Wait, how can the teal person have a baby if they have a 'thing?' She shuddered and tried not to think about it. This can't be Blue Team.

"Can you stop fighting? Tucker's baby is trying to sleep." This time, it was the normal-blue Spartan with Mark V armor and an Assault Rifle. 

"Caboose, you're an idiot," said Church. "We should bury this thing." 

"I'm going to bury my thing in a-" 

"Tucker, just stop right there."

Ashley walked out of the base, hoping to get some useful info from these people. Something hit her hard in the head from behind her. What the fuck? With a cry of pain, she collasped to the ground, and sunk into unconscienceness.

...

Drai Sel'gath felt something on his face. It felt like dirt. He opened his eyes and saw a pile of dirt next to him. I'm in a hole, he noticed. It had seemed like a while since he had fallen asleep inside of his Phantom, which was docked in the Covenant Crusier.

"Tucker, you should have made the hole bigger. His feet are sticking out."

"I thought you were supposed to get his feet." 

Those are human voices, Drai realized. He jumped out of the hole, his hand flew down to his hip, grabbing the hilt of his Energy Sword. "Demons!" He yelled when saw the two people trying to bury him.

"Holy shit! It's alive!" shouted the teal one. 

"Maybe he's friendly," the one with the Sniper Rifle suggested.

Drai let out a roar and flicked his wrist, activating the weapon's dual plasma blades.

"Then again, maybe not," said the teal one. 

"Tucker, use your sword," the one with the sniper raised the rifle at Drai's head. A moment later, Drai's sword cut through the barrel of the Sniper Rifle. "Son of a bitch! Those are expensive!" 

Tucker swung at the Elite with his own sword. Drai easily blocked the attack. The blue-gray demon jumped at the Minor with a Magnum. Fool! Drai brought his sword up to the Spartan while kicking the teal one. He rolled down the hill, dropping his sword on the way down. The other was stabbed in the chest when he landed on Drai's sword. The demon muttered some last words, "Mother...fucker." Drai grabbed him by the neck and threw him toward the other one. The body hit the ground and rolled a few feet before hitting a rock. 

The Elite activated his Active Camoflauge and took off running. There was a crashed human dropship nearby, with a cave next to it. He dectivated his sword, and put it back on his hip. 

"Excuse me."

Drai turned around. There was a human. He was average height, wearing a black trenchcoat that went to his knees, cover most of the black jeans he was wearing. On his head there was a black fedora, blocking the Elite from seeing the man's eyes. An interesting selection of clothing. He had a gruff chin with stubble around his chin. Between his thumb and index finger, he was holding a cigarette.

The Sangheili looked for the person this human was addressing. Surely he couldn't be talking to him, he was practially invisible with his Active Camo. 

"Yes, I'm talking to you, Drai Sel'gath." The man rasied his hand, and Drai was lifted up. He was left hovering in midair, unable to do anything. The man's hand began to glow, and the light soon enveloped the helpless Sangheili. "Hmm...sheild strength level three," the mysterious man said in a Texan accent. Drai's sword detatched from his hip and levitated closer to the man. "Plasma sword, damage level five. That should be a slight improvement." he muttered, pocketing the dumbell-shaped weapon. The Sangheili managed a few words, "How are you doing this, human?" It was said the the Sangheili language. 

"My power is now, almost, unlimited. You'd be surprised at what I can do," the man answered, fluently in the Sangheili's native language. Drai was speechless. Humans couldn't speak their language. There were too many sounds that could only be made with Sangheili mandibles. The Elite's Active Camo module flew into the man's hands. He studied it for a minute. "This should replace those old, outdated Stealth Boys that we've been using."

With a wave of his hand, the man sent Drai flying backward out of the cave. He waved his hand again, causing a portal to appear in front of him. "Adios," he waved at the Sangheili and stepped through the portal. 

Just staring at the rip in space seemed to draw him in, as if it had some sort of supernatural powers. Well, it kinda did, as random portals don't open every day. Drai summoned all the courage he had in him, and jumped head first into the portal. It closed behind him.

...

All around her was white. All she could see was white. Nothingness. She was still in her full armor, with her Assault Rifle on her back, stolen Plasma Rifle on her hip, and three Plasma Grenades on her other hip. I guess I died, she thought.

"Really? When I intend to kill, I kill." 

She turned around. There was a man, dressed from head to toe in black. Black hat covering his eyes, black trench coat, black jeans. She grabbed her Assault Rifle and aimed it at the man. "Who are you?" She asked.

"My dear Ashley, now is not the time for violence." With a flick of his hands, the Assault Rifle flew out of Ashley's grip. "The MA5B Assault Rifle doesn't meet my standards. However..." Her stolen Plasma Rifle levitated into the man's hand. "This could make a decent sidearm." Raising his other hand, the man levitated her Plasma Grenades to him. "These can replace the Thermal Detonaters." 

Ash just stared at him. "You're the reason that I was knocked out? Why? And where the hell are we?"

The man stared at her. For once she could see his eyes. They were yellow, sinister looking. Ashley took a step back, toward her fallen Assault Rifle, which was sitting on nothingness. "I came here since some technological upgrades could've been found." He smiled one of those evil smiles. "Ashley B-341, you are not from this world, and this is not the last you will visit."

Another step back. "Not from this world? What do you mean?"

"Come on, you remember the Covenant ship, Truth and Reconciliation, I think was its name."

She looked at him. "How did you know about that?"

"I know everthing." With that, he waved his hand and vanished, Covie weapons with him.

Ashley stood there alone in the white vastness. She felt someone poking her shoulder. "What the-"

She jerked her eyes open. The person referred to as Tucker was standing next to her. "What the fuck happened? We found you knocked out," he said, leaning over her.

"Something hit me in the back of the head," she said, keeping what had happened afterward in her mind confidential. Ashley sat up from the floor, groaning at the pain in the back of her head.

"You're name's Ashley, right?" Tucker asked next. 

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I told him." She noticed Grif standing a few feet away. 

"What are you doing here?" she asked Grif.

"Sarge sent me on a siuicide mission to rescue you from the Blues. He said if that if I died-" He was interrupted by a orb of white light in the middle of the room. It grew bigger and bigger until it exploded. The room was now empty.

Caboose walked in holding a tray of cookies. Then he noticed that lack of people in the room. "Where did you guys go? Are we playing hide-and-seek? I love hide-and-seek!


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two : Desert

-Juland Wastes, Tatooine.  
-September 1

Tucker opened his eyes and looked around. From what he could tell, they were still inside the base, and now there was sand everywhere. He slowly got to his feet, still remembering the flash. "Church, like what the fuck was that?" Nobody answered. "Church?" Still no answer. Then Tucker noticed Grif laying on the floor. Ashley was nowhere to be seen, but her Assault Rifle was on the ground, half buried in sand. He kicked Grif in the ribs as hard as he could.

"What the hell?" Grif muttered as he woke. "What was that light? Am I dead?"

"I doubt it." Ashley walked into the room, helmet tucked under her shoulder. "Why don't you guys go take a look outside." Tucker walked up the ramp behind them and took in the sight. "Holy shit." Grif weakly stood up and joined him. "What the hell?"

They were in the same base that they had left, except now it was in a desert, and the outside was sand-blasted. There were craggy bluffs in the distance, but other than that, it was just sand and nothing else. "Where are we? Please tell me we're not in another box canyon with the Reds." Tucker asked. 

"I don't know exactly where we are." The myserious man's words echoed in Ashley's ears. -You are not from this world, and this is not the last you will visit.- She sighed and told them, "I think we're in a different world than the one you come from. I come from another one, which might explain why you don't know what Spartans are."

Grif nodded. "It's a possibility."

Ashley was surprised at this. "Really? I thought you might think I was on drugs or something."

"Well, I've been sent to the future, so it doesn't sound that crazy."

"Okay..." She was surprised yet again. Sent to the future? What went on thier world? "Do we have a plan?" Tucker and Grif both shook their heads. "We should try to find a food source. We don't know how long we're going to be here." She put her orange Air Assault helemt and picked up her Assualt Rifle from a sandy floor. She marked the base on her HUD in cse they needed to go back there. "Let's go."

"Mother-fucking jackpot." Tucker yelled as he looked out into the horizon. They had been searching for any type of food or water for the past three hours, and they had only found a few inedible withered plants. 

"Please tell me it's a five star hotel with an all-you-can eat buffet," Grif pleaded.

"With showers that have hot water," Ashley added.

"There might be one there," Tucker said. Ashley and Grif gasped at what Tucker had seen. There was a large city off in the distance, with what appeared to be starships flying in to and out of it. The city was easily fifty miles away.

Ashley glanced up at the sky. The two suns were still rising. Or they could be setting. She didn't know. "Well, let's go," she ordered the two non-Spartans. 

"Who wants to play twenty questions," Tucker asked. 

"Sure," Grif said, and they began their game. "You go first." Grif waited for a few moments, and Tucker nodded. "Is the object orange?" Tucker nodded again. "Is it pretty?" Tucker nodded a third time. "Is it Ashley?"

"Dammit! How'd you know?"

"It's obivious!"

Ashley sighed. Holy shit, this is going to be a long walk.

...

The two suns in the sky had nearly set, blanketing the vast desert in darkness. The group had stopped for the night under the cover of a few dead trees. Ashley broke off a few of the branches and piled them in the middle of the area. She tore off the pieces of her armor that went above the hand, and struck them together with all her might. She got the sparks on her first try. 

The fire ignited, casting a warm glow on the surrounding areas. Grif had already fallen asleep in his helmet, and Ashley took off her helmet, flipping it upside down and placing it on the sandy ground. She put her head in the opening, making a sorta pillow. Tucker did the same. 

"You know," he said, "I don't know whether I can believe that this is a different world."

"I think it is. There was this wierd man dressed in black, and he said it was."

"That's a little creepy. When did you see him?"

"When I was knocked out in your base. He appeared in my mind."

There was a dead silence. "What was yours like?"

"Pardon?"

"What was your world like?" Ashley hadn't been expecting a queston like that. "If we are in a different world, you had to come from one that was different."

"Well, pretty shitty. There was a group of aliens known as the Covenant that was trying to eradiacte the human race. They never told us what pissed them off." Ashely sighed. "I was one of the last of my kind. I was helping a Spartan that was one of my only friends escort a package to on of the last human ships leaving the planet, Reach. It was the last human planet that we had, other than Earth. He and I got in a fight, after I tried to convince him to help me capture a Covenant ship to help any remaining humans. But, he stuck to his damn promise to Halsey that he would get that package to the ship."

Tucker frowned. "Wow, that has to suck. Who was this guy?"

"Noble Six, Spartan B312. He has a real name, but no one knows it but a handful of people."

"Why are we here?" Tucker asked, changing the subject.

Ashley smiled. "That's one of life's greatest mysteries, isn't it?"

"No, I meant why are we stuck out in a desert in an entirely different world than the one we came from?"

"I don't know," Ashley responded, "But, can you promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"No matter why we're here, will you stay with me? I need all the help I can get."

"Yes, I will." 

Ashley smiled, glad to have someone to spill her troubles to. "We can talk more about our worlds later."

"Whatever." With that, the two of the fell asleep.

...

-Location Unknown  
-Time Unknown

Drai Sel'gath exited the portal and into a room filled with strange human machinery. They were making something, some Human style weapon that apparently took some type of energy cell, since another machine was making those. 

The black clothed human picked one of the weapons up and walked over to Drai. "Isn't it beautiful?" he asked in perfect Sangheili. "It's a Guass Rifle. I found it in a world where the Earth had been nuked. Found some good armor there, too." 

Drai roared out in rage and swung his fist at the man. The man fired the weapon, and a single shot of energy flew out of the barrel and into Drai's chest. It wasn't enough to kill the Elite, but it was enough to break the shields and force Drai to his knees, steam from the energy trailing from his torso.

"You have only two choices, Sel'gath. You can either help me, or you can die."

Drai thought about it. Self preservation ran in his family. He would be helping a human, but it was a omnicsent, powerful human. One completely different from the ones he had normally faced.

"What would you have me do?"

...

-Mos Eisley; Tatoonie  
-September 2

After nearly five hours of walking, they finally reached the city. "Now, we might stand out a little bit, so just act casual. Don't draw attention," Ashley ordered. Tucker and Grif nodded. 

"What the hell?" Ashley exclaimed as they entered the city. There were aliens that none of them they had never seen before. There were little small humanoids covering most of their bodies in a brown cloaks, with bright yellow eyes glowing from under their hoods. They were trying to climb up a dinosaur like creature, but they fell off, causing Grif to laugh. Almost all the signs were written in a alien language. 

"You know, Ashley, we're really standing out," Tucker commented. 

"Shut up," Ashley irritatedly said. There was a building up ahead with a large, domed roof. Ashley peeked in the open door. A curved bar wrapped around a bartender, and there were several people at it. "I think its a bar of some sort," she told the other two.

"With booze? Hell yeah!" Tucker started to fun toward it, but Ashley grabbed his arm. "Tucker, no matter how much I could use a drink right now, we can't afford it. We don't have any of the money they use here!"

"So? Can't you just fuck them for money?"

"Tucker! No matter who much I need money, that is below my standards," Ashley shot back, causing a few people in the streets to stare. "How much could I get for doing that?"

"Depends on who you fuck," Tucker answered.

The trio entered the bar, and hoped to find someone to tell them where they were. Ashley plopped down on a stool, and Tucker sat to the left, Grif to the right. 

"What it'll be?" The bartender asked.

"We're just going to sit here a while, 'cause we don't got no money," Tucker answered. 

The bartender turned to Ashley. "You're the prettiest girl that has set foot in here in a while. It'll be on the house."

"Okay, then bring us the stongest thing you've got," Ashley said. The bartender went over to a wierd machine, and came back with three glasses filled with a strange blue liquid. Across from them, there was a giant furry creature, and a man whose face was half-messed up. Next to Scarface, there was a teenage boy with blonde hair. 

Grif smiled to himself. "I know him," he said to Ashely, pointing at the teen. "That's Luke Skywalker."

"Are you sure?" Ashley asked. "How do you know?"

"I've seen this movie before," Grif answered, hand reaching down to his pistol. "There's going to be a fight in a few seconds." Grif pointed to an old man in a brown cloak talking to the hairy thing. "He's going to end the fight and save the kid's life."

Ashley looked at Grif suspisously. "This is a movie?"

"Yeah," the orange non-Spartan answered. "It's called Star Wars, I think."

Right about then, Scarface shoved Luke out of his chair, and pulled a strange pistol on him. When he was about to fire, a blue beam of light cut through Scarface's arm, severing it. It fell to the ground with an ugly flop, blood pooling around it. The old man was holding some kind of weapon, the thing with the blue blade. The cantina was dead silent. "Can't say that I had expected that," Ashley muttered.

Then the pub came back to life, as if nothing had happened. The old man and the kid snuck out through the back door, and Ashley stood up. "Come on, Tuck, Grif, we're leaving." They left out of the back door, the same that the old man and the kid had left through.

"So, Grif. You said that you had seen this movie. Now do you believe me why I say we're in a different world?"

"I'll go with it. It's probably just a bad dream or something," Grif responded, streching his arms out to the side. "I'll wake up in the morning and this will all be over."

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Well, if you've seen this movie, then what happens next?"

"The old dude, Ben, and Luke go sell their speeder thingy to pay for the flight that they just set up. I think."

Ashley took off her helmet, revealing her long red hair. "I'm going to talk to them. Just wait here. And Tucker," the teal non-Spartan looked up at her. "Keep these. They won't fit back on right." Ashley handed him the metal hand guards that she had used to make a fire with last night.

Then Ashley wandered around the city, searching for the kid. After about an hour, she found him casually sitting on his speeder thingy.

She casually walked over, tucking her helmet under her arm. "Hey," she greeted, as she looked over the speeder.

"Hi. The speeders for sale if you want it," Luke replied, honestly hoping that she was buying.

"I'm just looking."

Luke was staring at her armor. "Are you Imperial?"

"...No." She didn't really understand anything about this world, she didn't even know if this was real, or this was some really messed up form of the afterlife, where all people, living or fake, went when they died. "Not really. You?"

"No. They killed my uncle and aunt, and they're after me too." Luke glanced at the ground, wondering where Ben had gone. He glanced up and saw several armored figures walking toward them, laser rifles at the ready. "Speak of the devil..." They were white, and their armor seemed to be made out of what appeared to be plastic. "If they ask, you haven't seen any droids, and you don't know me."

Ashley nodded, her free hand slowly creeping toward the MA5B on her back, while she put her helmet on with the other hand. The armored troopers walked up to her. "Ashley, or Spartan B341 if you prefer."

"What do you want?" She asked, tighting her grip on her weapon, not even bothering to ask how the knew her name and service tag.

They raised their rifles. "You are under arrest. If you don't come quietly, then we will be forced to shoot. Lay your weapon on the ground."

Ashley smile beneath her helmet. "Make me." She fired a burst at the leading trooper, the one with the orange shoulder pauldron, presuming that he was the leader. The bullets tore apart the armor that he was wearing, killing the trooper. The others stared as the body fell, and turned to Ashley, and let their lasers fly out at her.

She dove behind a crate while civilians ran off in several directions screaming. Luke ran into an alley between some buildings, hiding back there. "Tucker, Grif, I need back up, now!" Ashley shouted into the comms.

"Um..." Grif responded. "We suck at fighting, so if we get you killed-"

"Just get over here!"

"Fine. Don't say that we didn't warn you."

Ashley risked a peek over the edge of the crate, and ducked down immediantly as red lasers pierced the box where her head had been moments earlier. BR55 fire echoed in the street, as Grif and Tucker ran up to her postion, but they were forced into cover by the red lasers.

"Oh look, we're pinned down. Now what?" Tucker asked, tossing the empty clip from his rifle. Grif was right though, they sucked at shooting. Not a single trooper had fallen from their fire. 

The sound of the laser fire stopped, and footsteps could be heard coming up the street. Ashley looked over the edge of the box, and then wished she hadn't. A large figure wearing armor similar to MJOLNIR, but completely black, and more bulky, was walking towards them with a strange rifle in his hands. 

"Oh shit, what do we do now?" Grif panicked. He was shaking, making the fact that his armor was slightly too tight quite obivious. 

"Hey! What the hell is going on here!" A new voice rang out. Ashley saw the ship pilot that Luke had supposedly got a charter from. The giant walking fur ball was behind him. The man had a laser pistol raised in his hand, aimed at the large figure.

"Captain Solo, I request that you put your weapon down please. We're in the process of aquiring new technology for my army, and we wil not hesistate to kill you."

Ashley groaned. It was that damn man in black. The one that had caused her to be here in the first place. She might get the shot off, if she acted quickly. Jumping out from behind the crate, she opened fire at the mysertious man, and ran over to Tucker and Grif's crevice in a wall. It was cramped with the three of them.

"Ashley, please. You can do better."

"Dammit! I shot him! I know that one shot had to hit him!" Ashley screamed in annoyance. 

The mysterious man continued on. "Captain Solo, we only have a limited amount of time before we have to leave, so I suggest that you stand down." Solo stood there, keeping his pistol trained on the armored figure. 

"Then I'll see you in hell!" Solo fired several rounds into the figure, before two .44 Magnum shots rang out in the street. Ashley released the breath that she had been holding. Who ever that guy was, he and his creature were dead on the street.

"I did warn you to stand down." The mysterious man put the magnum back in his trenchcoat. "Now Ashley. I request that you turn over your armor."

"Or what?"

"Or we'll take it from you." He smiled. "Trust me. I get what I want, no matter the cost."

"Oh, yeah," Tucker bravely yelled. "Then you can suck my di-" He was cut off by a minor earthquake. Some of the smaller sand buildings collasped under the force. Ashley remained upright, holding hier rifle, while Tucker and Grif fell to the ground. Out in the street, another portal had opened.

A figure walked out from it, easily taller than Ashley by a few feet. It's top half was much more armored than its lower body. It had a sword that seemed to be made up of light as one hand, and a long rifle in another. "Who is it that disturbs my sleep!?" the thing bellowed, in a deep raspy voice.

"Well, I never thought that I would have the chance to meet one of the several hundred Promethean Guardians. I am pleased to make your aquaintence. My name is Giovanni."

Ashley perked up at the last part. It wasn't much to go on, but it was a name. The 'Promethean Guardian' shot a orange light onto Giovanni, scanning him.

"Human, I hate to tell you this, but you have left the confines of you reality and entered this one. Please make your way back to your world before I must use force," the Promethean Guardian stated, sounding like a machine.

"Not a chance," Giovanni said, pulling his magnum back out. 

"Then we have nothing to talk about." The Guardian raised the lightsword and swung down at Giovanni, but a burst of energy knocked the Promethean off its ass. It rolled along the ground before coming to a complete stop. It was either dead or knocked out, Ashley couldn't tell which. Grif and Tucker were speachless.

The armored man walked over to Giovanni, smoke rising from the barrel of his weapon. "Sir, I have recieved report from our scout. He claims that the world has life, and might possibly have advanced technology. Shall we return to base and prepare for departure?" The voice was barely audible from Ashley's location, but she made out most of it.

"Not without the MJOLNIR," Giovanni turned to Ashley. "Get her, and take her armor. Wipe the memories of the other two. I might have use for them later."

The armored man turned and tossed a strange object at them, impossible to dodge in the close quarters that they were in. It detonated, emitting a white light, blinding Ashley, and knocking out Grif and Tucker. It must ahve been a stun grenade. Her armor was in complete lockdown. Must've been some sort of EMP. She could only watch as the figure approached her.

He picked her up, which was impressive since she was an augmented Spartan wearing a full ton of armor. The armored man slung her over his shoulder, and walked over to the portal that had been left open by the Promethean Guardian. 

I don't think this will end well, Ashley thought.

...

Luke Skywalker was in shock. He took cover behind a building as the shooting had started, and had seen everything. The creature that had come from the portal stirred, and stood up. It walked around for a minute, before kicking the dead body of the man who had bravely stood against the man and the Stormtroopers. 

The Guardian looked directly at Luke, who began to back away slowly. Luke eventually broke off into a full run. The Guardian shrugged, and enclosed its body in light and teleported, much like the Promethean Knights that it had been based off of.

It reappeared before Luke, calmly staring at the farmer boy, who was reaching for a weapon on his belt. 

"There is no need for a weapon, human. I am not hostile to you," The Promethean Guardian said, making Luke stop his attempt to get his weapon, which was his late father's lightsaber.

"What do you mean?"

"You saw everything that happened, and I need information. Do you know the names of everyone involved in the incident?"

"Um...well, there was a Stormtrooper that called the girl in the orange armor Ashley. And then something about a Spartan B341. That's all I know."

The Guardian scanned all the files that he had on him. "Ah yes, Spartan Ashley B341. World of Origin, Halo. It seems that she too managed to escape the confines of her world as well." The Promethean stared down at Luke. "If they kidnapped her, then it is my duty to rescue her, and send her back to her reality. It's why I'm here." He aimed his arm at the open air, and shot out a white ball of light, which expanded into a portal. He ran through, leaving Luke mystified. 

The portal seemed to have an enticing effect on those who saw it, as Luke was longing to go into it despite the fact that he wasn't sure if it would lead to death, or to a tropic island, or to death on a tropical island.

"What the hell? Well, curiousity killed the womp rat," he charged through the open portal, leaving behind everything he had ever known.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: As If Nothing Happened

-Val Halla Outpost Number One  
-Date Unknown

Simmons was standing guard on top of the base. Since Grif had disappeared a few days ago, Sarge was in a really good mood. Simmons was usually a kiss ass, but something was wrong. He missed the orange dude that stank and smoked.

"Isn't this great? No Grif!" Sarge exclaimed as he ran around the base, tossing all of Grif's smoke-stenched clothes into the creek. 

"I guess so." Simmons sighed. Things were certainly about to change around here. Then he noticed the figure on the horizon, walking over the hill toward the base. Even though the figure was far away, he could still make out the orange armor, and he knew Sarge was going to be pissed. "Grif is back."

Sarge ran over to him at lightning speed. "Funny thing. I thought you just said that Grif was back."

"He is. Look." Simmons pointed out to the approaching figure. 

Sarge grabbed a Sniper Rifle, and used the scope to get a closer look at the orange figure. "Shit." He fired at Grif striking the orange armored non-Spartan in the head. Grif fell down on the ground, bleeding from the wound in his head.

"What the fuck, sir?! You killed Grif!"

"And that should make the world a better place!" That wasn't like Sarge. That wasn't like Sarge at all...He hated Grif, and threated to kill him at least thirty-seven times everyday, but he never acted upon any of the death threats.

"But that's murder!"

Sarge sighed. "Simmons, there are somethings that have to be done." He walked away from the base, heading for the Warthog. "Now I need to kill Tucker."

Simmons watched as the Warthog drove away, kicking up dirt as it went. Something was really wrong here. He stared at the body of Grif, laying several yards away. The two people that disappeared for a few days are now the ones that were about to die...

Seeing as there was really nothing he could do for Grif, he decided to get to the bottom of this, for his friend. But first, he had to warn Tucker.

...

Tucker stood in his room, feeling as if something was out of place. He felt like there was a part of his life that was missing, and there would be nothing that could bring it back. Leaning against his wall, he let out a deep breath. 

Had everything just been a dream? He could barely bring up images of a girl, but that was all. It was most likely one he had seen on a porn site. He reached for his pouch where he kept his...personal items, going for a picture that he had of...take a guess.

His hand hit something metal, and he pulled out two orange metal hand plates. Could they be that yellow guy's on the other side of the canyon? Tucker really wouldn't have known where he would have gotten them from him...

Staring at them, memories came flooding back to him. The space ship crashing, the arrival of the mystery girl, the alien that looked like Junior. 

A night around a campfire, him, Grif, and the girl. Other worlds. "What the hell?" Tucker muttered to himself. The hand guards must have triggered some sort of recall. He heard a sharp crack from the other side of the canyon, meaning that Sarge probably shot at Grif again. He always missed. 

Tucker then remembered the worst part of the flashback. The EMP thing. Getting knocked out, his last visions of Ashley getting taken away by that dude in the power armor. He and Grif were taken to some sort of research facility, where they were hooked up to strange machines. They been wiped of their memories in that other world. That was all he remembered. Other than that Ashley was in danger. He felt a flame ignite in his heart. 

Dammit, I think I fell in love. He then knew that he might be the only hope that Ashley would have. And he was ready to take the chance... They had first been transported by a white light in the main room of the tower, and that was where he headed first.

"Tucker! Is that you?" His radio blared. The call sign indicated that it was none other than Dick Simmons.

"What do you want, Red?" Tucker asked, setting his Battle Rifle down on the bed that Ashley had been on when they first were teleported.

"You have to get out of there! Sarge killed Grif, and now he's after you!" Simmons shouted.

Tucker looked over the strange machine in the wall of the main room. It was of the same design as the rest of the building, but it seemed to be used as something more than scenery. 

"How can I trust you, Red?" Tucker shot back, fiddling with the machine. This might have been how they were transported...

"Tucker, what the hell are you doing?" Church asked, walking into the main room of the base. He apparently wasn't able to get a new body after the fight with the alien, as Tucker still saw the blackened slits where the plasma blade had stabbed him.

"I'm going to save a friend," he replied cryptically.

"By messing with that worthless piece of crap?" Church went over to it and pulled down what appeared to be a metal bar. "I've tried to figure out what this thing does forever," the cobalt non-Spartan said as a panel ejected from the wall, with a handprint on it. "And that's all it does."

"Have you tried putting you hand in it?" Tucker asked, closing the comm with Simmons. 

"What do you think, fucktard?" Church shouted at him. "I've tried it, Caboose has tried it, he even traced his hand in it, and that didn't work!"

Tucker slowly put his hand in the impression of the hand. A green glow lit up the room, before a white ball of light formed in the room. 

"Okay, I admit that's never happened," Church commented, as the light expaneded and absorbed the two of them.

-Unknown Space Station  
-Sept. 3

Ashley strained against the metal bands that held her limbs to the table. They had to be made out of something strong, as even her Spartan strength wasn't able to tear them out. She was even still clad in her armor. 

Giving up any chance at that, she looked around the room, absorbing her surroundings. She was in what appeared to be a scientist's lab, mainly because of the test tubes and what appeared to be a bulkier rip off of MJOLNIR, in a standing position. Machines stood at a standstill around the armor, as ready to seal it up around a person.

One whole wall was a window, looking out over the stars. That meant that she was on a ship of some sort.

"Fucking great," she muttered, as she tried to break the bands. "Son of a bitch!"

"I would've expected more than a Spartan," Giovanni said dryly, as he made his presence known. He was wearing the same black attire that he was used to, calmly standing in the corner.

"What the hell do you want?" Ashley asked, once again attempting to break free. The machines around the other armor suit moved on tracks on the roof over to her. The tips of the mechanical arms had drills, and srcewdrviers, and what appeared to be a laser cutter.

"What I want, is your armor," Giovanni replied, walking over to the table were Ashley was trapped. "Perhaps with some modifications, it can surpass what we already have." He waved his hand over to the other armor. 

"This is the T-45B Power Armor," He explanied. "Developed on Earth in 2076, used in the Resource Wars that ended with a nuclear war. At least in one world." He picked up a rifle from a rack behind the armor. "This is a Guass Rifle. Shoots similar to the guass turrets that the UNSC puts on the back of their Warthogs."

Ashley realized that she might be able to stall Giovanni, buying herself sometime to plot an escape. "Why are you doing all of this? Why bother?"

Giovanni smiled, and went over to a computer. "My objective is to collect all the keystones of the eight Res'nee worlds, so that I can venture into the Prime World." A holographic image of a small, circular rock appeared. There was an unidentifiable rune etched onto it. "This is one of the three we have. This is the one from the world you just left."

Staring blankly at him, Ashley asked; "The Prime World?" She hoped that he would go into a full explanation of it all, giving her some thinking time.

Raising his eyebrows as if he knew she was stalling, Giovanni took the bait. "The Prime World is the world that all other worlds came from. My world, you world, and so many more. Nine keystones are required to get there, the eight from the Res'nee worlds, and a ninth, that no one knows where it is."

"However, a loophole might have been found," Giovanni continued. The hologram switch from the keystone to a figure she recognized. That Promethean Guardian. 

"This amazing creation has the ability to open portals to other worlds, while we have to use the towers. It's creators based the design off of their Promethean Knights, which were used a military units."

"And which world did those come from?" Ashley asked, buying more time as she gently moved her hands back and forth against the cuffs, trying to unhook her armor's guantlets so she could get her hands free. She would have to unstrap her leg armor last.

"Prometheans are from your world, my dear Ashley," Giovanni replied, smiling. "And, the-" He was cut off by the shrieks of alarms ringing all over the space station.

Pressing a finger to his ear, Giovanni barked out orders to people, while Ashley continued to struggle. "Well, we will have to continue this later," the man in black said as he walked to the door. "It seems that we have intruders."

He left her there in the room, and five minutes later, Ashley heard the door slide open. She didn't even look up. 

"There she is!" The voice was familiar, that of a person she figured she would never see again.

"Tucker?" Ashley leaned her head up on the table, watching as the teal and cobalt non-Spartans enter the room. "How in the hell did you two get here?"

"Long story," Tucker answered as he pressed a button next to the door, closing it. "Church, see if you can free her from the computer over there."

Church folded his arms. "What makes you think that I know about computers? I really know nothing about them whatsoever."

"That's kinda fucking ironic since you are a computer," Tucker shot back, shifting his BR55 in his hands. He glanced around the room. "Oh look, we have no other way out." 

Church mumbled something under his breath as he went over to the computer terminal and started pressing buttons. "I wish Caboose was here. He always was good with buttons."

"Are you kidding? He was a retard with buttons. Only once did it ever help us as of yet," the teal non-Spartan said. "Caboose killed you man," Tucker said, walking over to Ashley. 

The restraints popped open, freeing Ashley from the table. "Great," she said. "Now how are we getting out of here?"

Tucker scratched the back of his head, even with his armor on. "Didn't plan that far ahead," he admitted. "Perhaps we'll get lucky."

Groaning, Ashley walked over to the rack that Giovanni had put the 'Guass Rifle,' and picked it up, noting that it was quite similar to human weapons, considering that it was one. 

A messege flashed on her HUD. 'Unidentifed Weapon.' Below that were the words 'Would you like to register this weapon?' 

Ashley selected the 'yes' option using the tac-pad on her wrist. 'Please enter weapon name,' appeared on the Heads-Up-Display, and Ashley entered "Guass Rifle.'

A small blue icon of the weapon appeared in the top right corner of the HUD, signaling that the registration had been complete. 

"We need to get out of here," Church said. "The security terminal shows that they are at the door." He turned his BR55 at the door, and slowly backed up behind some crates. Then something smashed against the door, causing an inward dent.

"Oh shit," Tucker cursed, flicking his wrist to activate the blades of his Energy Sword. Another smash, and the door caved in, sending up a cloud of dust and allowing whatever inside.

A figure walked through the dust, and out into the open. It was one of those people in black T-45b armor, brandishing a minigun.

Ashley aimed down the scope of her Guass Rifle, and fired off a shot right to the head. The enemy's orange shields flared, holding quite strong. It retaliated by firing the minigun at them, letting hundreds of bullets fly out and into Church's crates. 

"We're screwed!" Church shouted, as Ashley crouched behind a metal wall, trying to figure out how to make the Guass Rifle reload. "Where's Tucker?"

Tucker ran at the enemy, sword ready. The huge person in the black power armor turned toward him, but was too slow, and Tucker brought his sword through him, breaking the shields, stabbing it. 

The enemy spasmed, dropping the minigun to the ground. It followed the weapon, and lay face down on the floor, dead. 

"Hey, I did it!" Tucker exclaimed, throwing his fist up in triumph. 

"It's hardly a victory," Giovanni said, as he entered the room flanked by three more of the armored foes, each sporting a shoulder mounted weapon that Ashley had never seen before. "That was merely luck, and a design flaw."

Tucker walked cautiously over towards Ashley, sword pointed at the man wearing all the black clothing. "Who the fuck are you?"

Smiling, Giovanni stepped forward. "I am the soon to be ruler of the worlds, and perhaps even the Sidera."

Ashley looked around for an escape, taking Tucker's pistol off his hip. She was glad to have a familiar weapon in her hands. The armored guys had them pinned down, and could kill the three of them in seconds. 

"You want me, don't you?" Ashley finally said. 

"That is exactly what I want." Giovanni cupped a lighter in his hands as he lit a cigarette and took a drag. 

"My armor, right?" Ashley's eyes darted from place to place, scanning for anyway out of this. 

"Actually, that was a complete lie," Giovanni admitted, releasing smoke from his mouth. "The reason I want you is to get to your world." 

Ashley was taken aback by the words. Her hand clamped Tucker's pistol as she put the Guass Rifle on her back. "Go into detail. And tell your Armors to back down." That was what she was going to call the power armored foes; Armors. Not very original, but who cares when it's shooting at you.

"You entered that other world differently than I enter my worlds." Tucker almost made a perverted joke there, but the Armors had their weapons pointed right at him. 

"We use the towers, but you, you did something else," Giovanni continued. "You came through slipspace, something I have tried before, but all test subjects were killed."

One of the Armors flinched as its shields were hit by some sort of red light beams that came through the open door. Another shot hit it, breaking the shields and disintegrating the Armor into orange light particles. Everyone in the room just stared, flabbergasted. 

"That's a headshot," The familiar form of the Promethean Guardian walked through the door, followed by yet another familiar figure. Luke Skywalker was holding a strange pistol in his hand, looking awed at the sights of the space station.

"Protocol dictates that I must return you to your worlds," The Guardian said, looking at each figure. "It is my duty."

"Get him, keep him alive, though," Giovanni simply ordered to his troops. They turned with their shoulder weapons aimed at the creature.

"Tucker, does the armor you and Church have protect against space?" Ashley asked, staring at the window amnd out into space.

"Yeah, why?" Tucker replied, still holding the plasma blades toward Giovanni. 

"Hey, Promethean guy," Ashley yelled at the Guardian. "Can you protect Luke from spatial voids?"

"Certainly. It was among my-"

"Do it." Ashley watched as a blue energy shield formed around Luke, lifting off the ground. 

"This is making me feel sick," Luke complained, dropping the pistol, which fell through the shield to the metal floor. 

The Armors slowly approached Luke and the Guardian, weapons carefully aim at them. The time to act was now.

Ashley raised the M6D at the window, and turned her head to look right into Giovanni's eyes. She saw a look of slight amusement, but a slight hint of fear. 

She pulled the trigger.

The bullet smashed into the window, shattering the glass and exposing them to outer space. The instant decrease in pressure broke the other windows, and sucked everything, and everyone in the room out.

Ashley caught Church by the wrist, and Tucker by his hand. They floated farther and farther away from the space station, when they saw Luke and the Guardian. 

"This is a whole new experience," Luke said, floating in the shield protecting him from space. 

"So now what?" Tucker asked, putting his deactivated sword onto his hip. 

"I didn't think that far ahead," Ashley replied, smiling behind her blue visor.

"Your chit-chat isn't helping," Church intervened. "I'm scared to hell right now."

"Allow me to guide us to a destination to rest," the Guardian said, and fired off a small ball of light out of his arm. The ball flew several yards, before expanding into a portal. Ashley, Tucker and Church were the first through.

They were falling. At least there was gravity here. Ashley lost her grip on both Tucker and Church, and threw her hands in front of her to shield her face from the fall. She hit the ground, and lay there from a few minutes to rest.

Hearing two more thumps on the ground, she assumed that Tucker and Church had made it. Glancing up, she saw that she had hit sand, and that they appeared to be in a desert.

The Promethean Guardian had released Luke, and was walking toward a city that seemed to be like the one where the had found Luke.

"Is that Mos Eisley?" Luke asked, brush the sand off of his simple farmer tunic. 

"No," the Guardian replied. "Welcome to the Sidera."


	4. The Sidera and the Test

Town of Siger, in the Mid-World designate Sidera  
September 3

Ashley wiped the sweat off of her brow with her free hand, she held her helmet under her shoulder in her other hand. They had been walking for what seemed like hours in and the desert was smolderingly hot. Luke seemed to be withstanding the heat fine, probably because he was from a desert planet.

"Where are we?" Church asked, looking all around the vast desert.

"I told you," the Guardian replied, sounding annoyed. "This is the Sidera. It is the mid-world of the Res'nee Worlds and Prime World."

"English, you fucking robot."

"The Res'nee worlds are the eight worlds that you come from," the Guardian explained. "This is, in essence, the only way to the Prime World from the Res'nee Worlds."

"Right, like I understood that perfectly," Church said sarcastically.

The Guardian stopped, and used some sort of built in projection device to bring up an image. It was a large circle with eight smaller circles around it. "The large circle represents the Sidera. The smaller ones are the Res'nee worlds. If you were to bring the keystones from the eight worlds here, you could gain access to the Prime World."

"Okay, that makes some more sense," Church replied, even more sarcastically. "What the hell is the Prime World?"

"That's the world were all other worlds were made," Ashley answered, getting an odd look from the Guardian. 

"How do you know that?"

"Remember that fellow Giovanni? He told me while he held me captive."

The Guardian seemed worried. "If he knows of the Sidera and Prime World, then this matter is much more than what I feared. We must act quickly."

"What happened to Grif?" Ashley asked, switching subjects as she caught up with Tucker. He was ahead of them, with the Guardian farther up ahead of them, muttering to himself the danger level and what not. The village that they had seen was in sight, but still far away.

Tucker glanced over at Church, who shrugged. "As if we would know. He's on Red Team."

"Simmons said he was killed," Tucker admitted, getting strange looks from the other members in the group, save for the Guardian. 

Ashley wasn't really close with Grif, so it really wasn't a big deal to her. "That's...too bad," she said. Luke, who hadn't even known them for more than an hour, nodded.

"So, kid," Tucker went over to Luke. "Why don't you tell us about yourself, since we're going to be stuck here for a while."

Luke shrugged. "Not much to tell, really. Born somewhere, and raised by my aunt and uncle on a moisture farm. Then, we got two new droids, one wanders, and I go to look for it." Luke stopped walking, and took a small canteen off his belt. After taking a sip, he offered it around to the rest of the group, but there were no takers.

"Then I got ambushed, and was saved by Ben Kenobi. He wanted to take me along with him to Alderaan, to learn the ways of the Force."

Ashley listened intently as he went on to describe the events that led to his arrival here. His aunt and uncle killed by the Empire, and hiring a Captain named Han Solo to get them to Alderaan, and then he witnessed the battle in the streets that led him here. 

She then turned her focus on the village that they had reached. The buildings were similar to those of Mos Eisley, made out of sand. The citizens were the strangest part, though.

There were severel species living here, and Ashley could name four that she saw immediantly. Humans, Sangheili, Unggoy, and Kig-Yar. There were many others that she could recognize from Luke's world, but didn't know their name, and there were more that she had no clue what they were.

Everyone wore the same thing. A white tunic over their chest, that also went down to their knees, making it seem that they all were wearing white dresses.

The Humans glanced up at the approaching group, with looks of horror, amusement, and curiosity, while some pushed their children behind them to protect them. The Sangheili balled their four-fingered hands into fists, ready to strike should the need arise. The Unggoy backed away, living up to their cowardly nature. The Kig-Yar remained still, while several other species went and pulled whatever weapons they had out, which were mostly crude knifes and daggers, but Ashley saw a UNSC M6C pistol among them.

The Guardian shouted out something in a strange tounge, and the crowd slowly went back to whatever it was they were doing, still eyeing them strangely.

"What did you tell them?" Luke asked, watching as the crowd dispersed.

"It is in these people's religion that a group of people from several other worlds will come together and save the world, and among that group is a individual that shall be united with the deity of the well, and become a deity himself," the Guardian said. "I told them that you all were to take the test."

"Screw the test," Tucker exclaimed as the group walked through the town, led by the Guardian. "We have to be the only group that fits that description."

The Guardian turned and faced him. "Actually, you are the 853rd group that fits the description. None had ever passed the test, and I was forced to put down whatever trans-realm crisis on my own."

"Okay, so we're probably gonna flunk this test," Tucker commented. "If we're so big in these guys religion, shouldn't they be worshipping us? Or giving us tons of gifts and stuff?"

Ashley snickered at the idea. Luke rolled his eyes and sighed. "With our luck, I'm surprised that they haven't killed us yet," the farm boy said. He seemed to be taking the whole 'other worlds' idea pretty well.

"Most people in this town are losing faith in their religion, as no one has even been identified as the hero," the Guardian went on. The group came to a stop at what appeared to be the center of the town, where there was a well surrounded by eight rectangular stone pillars. An even larger pillar stood a few feet away. 

"So, I'm guessing this is the well that has the deity in it?" Ashley asked, peering down into the hole in the ground.

"Supposedly, yes," the Promethean Guardian answered. "This is the place to be tested. Who shall go first?"

When no one raised their hand, Ashley volunteered. "Since I have the balls to do it," she commented. 

"Just jump in the well."

Ashley looked around, noting the large crowd that had gathered around them, and then down into the well. It seemed to be an endless drop. "Don't you think that is a little suicidal?"

"Do you trust me?" the Guardian asked, giving her a questioning look. 

"Um...maybe?" she answered. And with a release of breath, she fell forward and into the well.

It seemed like an endless fall, where she just kept going down, faster and faster. She was falling head first, which meant that when, if she ever did, reach the bottom, it would hurt. Ashley flipped herself rightside up after falling for what seemed like an enternity. 

Just like that, her falling slowed down, and slowed down, until she hit a rock floor. The impact was still pretty hard, but not that bad for a Spartan. She looked around, noting that the cave like room she was in was piled to the roof in sparkling golden coins. Ashley gasped, removing her helmet to observe the sight with her own eyes.

She walked over to a pile, and picked up several coins in a single handfull, letting the slip between her fingers down to the floor, where they hit the ground soundlessly. Ashley walked through a arch, deciding not to mess with the money, as se really didn't wan't to tick off a deity by taking his money. 

The Spartan practically did a double take as she entered the next room. "What the...?" The room looked like a room from a bad porn movie. Shag carpet, scented candles everywhere, and even a giant heart shaped bed smack in the middle of the room. 

There was a man in the bed, with the lower half of his body under the covers. Ashley was sure that he was wearing nothing. He smiled as he saw her. "Would you like to join me?"

Ashley stared at him, taking in his features. Well toned muscles, six pack abs, and the fact that he was probably the single hottest guy in humanity, meeting all of her standards in what she looked for in guys. 

The problem was her libido. Since she was a Spartan, she never honestly had the desire to do something like that, even with a guy as irresistable as him. "Not right now," she answered, and walked through the door on the other side of the room, trying to erase the events of that room.

The next room was a cave, with a lava river right in the middle, blocking her passage to the other door. As Ashley neared the river, she tripped over a rock, and the Guass Rifle on her back flew off, and into the river. 

"I didn't even know how to use that thing anyway," she muttered, standing up and trying to figure out how she had tripped. 

"Excuse me, can I help you" A creature was standing on the lava, on all fours, and its body seemed to be made of magma and steel. 

"What the hell are you?" The Spartan asked, slowly returning her helmet to her head. She looked for anything to use as a weapon should the need arise. 

"I am what people refer to as a Heatran, from a different world than yours," the creature said. "I am curious, what weapon did you drop into here?" Six weapons instantly appeared floating in a circle around Ashley. The first she recognized as a BR55, the next three she had never seen before, then there was the Guass Rifle, followed by a MA37, the weapon of her choice.

She pointed to the MA37, figuring that if she wasn't meant to be the deity, then at least she would have a good gun.

The Heatran smiled. "Then here you go." The other weapons dissapeared, leaving the Assault Rifle for Ashley to take.

It wasn't what Ashley had expected to happen, but she shrugged and took the gun, putting it on her back. 

"That was the final of the three test," the Heatran told her. "As your score is processed, please proceed." A bridge of solid steel formed over the lava, allowing her to pass. "The final room shall test your courage and endurance, as well as how well you can survive.

Taking a deep breath, Ashley walked across the bridge, and into the final test.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: The Quest

Town of Sigers, Mid World designate Sidera

September 3

"Seriously," Tucker groaned, leaning against one of the eight pillars that surrounded the well, "what's taking her so long?" He sighed. "I don't even get a good internet connection here, so there's nothing to do."

Luke stared at him. "Well, there's a logical reason for her taking so long, I'm sure." The teen stared off into the town, watching as the people went on with the regular everyday lives. "And besides," he continued, "I can safely say that neither of us would know how long something like this would take."

The teal-armored non-Spartan folded his arms. "But still, there's nothing to do in this primitive town. No TVs, no computers, no strippers, nothing."

"If it is technology you want, then perhaps you should go to the city of Guirel, the most advanced city in this world. They have all you want." the Promethean Guardian said, calmly looking down at him. "That would be where you can fulfill all of your desires."

"Okay, point me in that direction," Tucker said, shouldering his rifle.

The Guardian pointed his sword hand to the northeast. "It is exactly 234.42 miles that way, through the wasteland. "However, if you go, I must ask a task of you."

"And that would be?"

"I want you to find a man named Jacob Keyes, and deliver him this message: 493."

Tucker cracked his knuckles, "Got it," he said, and took a few steps, before turning back to Luke. "Are you coming?"

Luke hesistated. "I dunno," he looked over to the Guardian. "Is there anything in the wasteland that would try to kill us?"

"Actually," the Gaurdian replied, "Everything out there would try to kill you."

"Oh come on," Tucker insisted. "It can't be all that bad. We have a gun, and my sword, and you have you lightsaber." He grabbed the hilt of his sword, and activated the dual energy blades. "Don't worry, I can protect us. I've had a lot of experience with this."

"I don't know..."

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Come on, kid. When we get there, I'll buy you a lap dance. They're among the most wonderful things you've ever felt."

Luke scoffed. "We don't have any money," he explained. "And, since it's over two hundred miles on foot, we'll need to carry a lot of food and water." He looked out at the desert in the northeast, seeing the shimmer of the heat. "A lot of water at that."

"In town, there is a woman who owns a small shop," the Guardian said, "she can get you all the supplies you need, and I'm sure that your language is among the six million her robot can translate."

"I guess I'll go," Luke finally decided, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just no lap dance," he sternly added, glaring at Tucker, who just simply shrugged. Luke turned to the Gaurdian. "Where's this shop?"

The store was a small, run down hovel that had been added on to quite a few times. There was a flickering electric light that read: STORE, hanging at an angle. There were no windows, and the wooden door was wide open, drab green paint peeling off of it. To the side of the main building, there was a smaller building with a rusting garage door taking up most of the front.

"Well, they have an electric sign," Tucker grimly noted. "They must be doing somewhat good."

Luke nodded. "You wait out here, and I'll see what we can get for...we have no money."

Tucker sucked in a bit of breath, and glanced down at the pistol on his hip. "Here," he said, removing it and handing it to the teen. "See if you can trade for this."

Taking the pistol by the barrel, Luke walked into the store. It was somewhat dark, the only light coming from a few lamps, buzzing from years of use. There wasn't very much in there, a few cans of food here, and a few bottles of water there. There was, however, a double-barrel shotgun sitting proudly on a shelf adajcent to the counter on the far wall.

"Can I help you?" a woman asked from behind the counter. She had shoulder length brown hair, and a scar on her cheek in the shape of a 7.

Luke stared up at her in surprise. "You know our language?"

"Well, yeah," she replied, folding her arms behind her back modestly. "I know several languages, in fact. But none are used here." She pointed at a slim, skeletal robot in the corner. "Most of the time, I have him translate."

"And I-I do a fi-fine job at it," the robot said, in a tinny distorted voice.

Luke's mouth dropped when he saw the droid. It's head was still covered in gold plating, but the rest of the plating was gone, exposing the cords and wires inside. One of it's eyes were glowing, but the other appeared to have burned out. "C-3PO?" he asked, walking over to the droid. "Is that you?"

The droid looked up, head joint creaking as it did. "Ma-master Luke? Go-good heavens, you're al-al-alive."

"What happened to you?" Luke asked, taking in the sight of C-3PO's disrepair.

"It's a lo-long story," 3PO replied, voice skipping due to his current condiction. "But I'm af-afraid that I-I'll have to shut down for now to con-conserve power." With that, 3PO slumped down, his only working eye fading out.

The woman behind the counter watched the scene in complete silence. "You two knew each other?"

Luke nodded. "It was only for a little while, though. My uncle bought him off of Jawas, along with another droid, and well...yeah."

They shared a moment of awkward silence, before Luke placed the M6D pistol on the fading green counter. "I was hoping that I could trade some supplies for that gun," he told her.

The woman faintly smiled as she picked up the pistol. "I haven't seen one of these in years. Hell, I came from the world that it comes from."

That caught Luke's attention. "Wait, you're from a different world?"

Nodding the woman put the pistol down. "Yeah, we all are. Everyone in the Sidera is from a different world. They got here when they died. Some chose to live here, some chose to live in the bigger cities."

"What do you mean, when they died?"

The woman laughed. "You should know. Everyone that comes to the Sidera from other worlds died in that world. This is basically some form of afterlife. The only ones native to the Sidera are those who are born from the people from other worlds."

"I didn't die," Luke protested, "I followed some robot guy into a portal thing."

This made the woman laugh even more. "You followed Joe? That old piece of crap? Some people think he's some sort of deity or something," her laughter died down. "Seriously, he thinks he knows everything about this place, but I wouldn't trust him."

Luke nodded. "The supplies?" he reminded her. "How much could I get for that?"

"Where are you and you're friend going?" she asked back. "I'll need to know how much you'll need."

"Um...Tucker and I are on our way to Guirel on an errand for...Joe," he answered, slightly confused by the name she used for the Guardian.

"I can give you all of the stuff you need for free," she said. "But on one condition."

"And that is?"

She hesistated. "I want to come with you. I need to get that robot repaired," she glanced over at the remains of 3PO. "I know that you probably want him fixed too, so it'll be a win-win."

Luke shrugged. "I'm sure that Tucker won't mind. Survival in numbers, right?"

"Yeah, something like that," she replied, stepping out from behind the counter. The woman was wearing some form of armor that seemed crafted out of items found in several locations. The chest plate was made out of an old steel road signs, much similarity to the signs used to protect her arms and legs, which were bent around her limbs. Strapped to her hip was a .44 Magnum, bright and shiny as if it had been made yesterday.

"It'll be a hassle to carry all of our gear," Luke said. "Is there some form of transport available?"

She nodded. "We could get a pack brahmin, which look hideous with their two heads and no fur, but they would just take up water."

"So we go on foot?"

"No." She pointed at a door behind the counter. "That leads to the top secret project that I've been working on for the last three years. It should be able to get us where we need to go."

Tucker entered the store, arms folded. "What taking so long? I've been standing out there forever."

"We're almost done," Luke answered, staring at the woman who hadn't looked up from packing the cans of food into a dirty sports bag. "And there's been a slight change of plans."

"Oh, really?"

"She's coming with us, so she can get 3PO repaired," Luke explained, handing the M6D back to Tucker. "And we get to keep this."

"Um...okay," Tucker said, placing the weapon back on his hip. "I guess she can come along. I'd rate her a nine outta ten."

Luke stomped on Tucker's foot, realizing that it would have no effect at all due to the metal boot. "She's even got some form of transport for us."

"Wow," the woman said, looking Tucker up and down. "It's been only a few hours since that last group of Spartans rolled in. I didn't think that there'd be any more anytime soon."

Tucker shook his head. "I'm not a Spartan, but apparently, I have the armor they wear," he told her, remembering what Ashley had said. "But still, I do a great job with my sword."

Luke mentally blew his brains out with an imaginary pistol, hoping that the woman hadn't taken that as a perverted joke. He decided to change the subject. "So, what's this transportation you have for us?"

"An old 1954 Chevy pickup truck," the woman replied, zipping up the last of the three sports bags. "We should be ready, just have to carry the stuff to the truck. Luke slung one of the bags over his shoulder, while the woman took the other two. "Can you get the droid?" she asked Tucker, nodding over at 3PO's body.

"You know," Tucker suddenly said, as he picked up 3PO and placed him across his shoulders, "if we'll be riding together, we'll need to know each other's names."

"Oh, right," the woman said. "I'm Miranda. Miranda Keyes."

"Keyes?" Luke and Tucker echoed. "Like, you wouldn't know a Jacob Keyes, would you? Tucker asked as they followed Miranda out the door behind the counter.

"He's my father," she answered. "Why?"

They walked out the back door, and out of the building. There was a blue tarp covering an object, which was obviously the truck. "He's the one we're supposed to meet in Guirel."

Miranda reached over and pulled the tarp off, revealing the beat up old piece of junk. The windshield was cracked, and the red paint was rusting and falling off. "I knew he was here in the Sidera somewhere," she muttered. "I guess it's about time he and I met again. Just as long as my mother isn't there."

"Geez," Tucker said, setting the fragile body of C-3PO in the back of the truck. "I'm guessing you don't like her."

Miranda tossed her two bags into the back, and shook her head. "Nope, not very much." She climbed into the driver's seat, and turned the key. The engine sputtered and died. "This old thing always takes a bit of work." She tried again to the same results.

Luke kept his bag with him, and hopped into the passenger seat. "Tucker, you stay in the back and use the gun should the need arise."

"Yeah, whatever," the non-Spartan said, climbing into the back, which creaked under his weight.

Miranda turned the key again, and the engine finally started. "Well," she said, as she slammed her door. "We're off."


	6. Ruins

**Unknown Space Station, Location Unknown**

**September 4**

Giovanni stood at a terminal in his personal lounge, as one of his many agents appeared on the screen. "You have good news, I assume," Giovanni said, folding his arms across his chest. "You have the keystone?"

The man nodded. "It was in Requiem, just as you had said." He paused and reached for one of his pockets, and produced a small disc shaped brown object. In the middle was a sparkling sapphire, and all around it were glyphs engraved onto the surface. "I believe this is it."

A smile slowly spread across his face. "That makes four, out of a total eight. I assume that you aquired it covertly?"

"Well," the man scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sure that no one noticed that I had this, but being the captian of the UNSC Infinity is no small matter. Everyone expected me to know what to do. I rushed into the planet to get the keystone, and then tried to rush out to give it to you, and well-"

"It doesn't matter, Mr. Del Rio," Giovanni said, lighting up a cigar. "Just so long as we have it, we can continue as planned."

UNSC Captain Andrew Del Rio nodded. "I'm on my way." He was one of Giovanni's greatest assets, since he came from one of the model worlds, rather than one of the stupid spinoffs.

"Today will be a day long remembered," he muttered to himself. "We're halfway there."

** Washington D.C., United States of America  **

** September 4  **

Ashley groaned, and cracked her eyes open. Sunlight would've blinded her, but her helmet was polorized, and the light was filtered. Her MA37 assault rifle was laying on the ground only a foot from her head. "What the hell?" she mumbled, slowly pushing herself up. She shook her head, trying to regain her sense, and blinked a few times. Slowly, she looked around, and gaped at the sight infront of her.

Ashley was standing at the edge of a rocky ledge, several feet off the ground, staring out into the ruins of a city. Skeletons of buildings stood as a monument to a past era, while other buildings had completely crumbled. The ground wasn't grassy, instead a desert, with dust and rocks poking out. Small pathetic plants had bloomed here and there, some growing on the broken road that winded through the nearby area. An old sign stood nearby, rusted and bent. On the blue background, the words Scenic Overlook could be read, with was really ironic. There was nothing scenic about this wasteland.

"Well, this looks rather pleasant," she remarked to herself, using her helmets built in zoom feature to get a better look at things. It proved to be a fruitless task, as there was nothing living around. A thought came into her head, and she slowly glanced at the sky. Her hunch was wrong, since she didn't see any Covenant Cruisers overhead, preparing to glass the planet. That was a bonus though, right?

Reaching down to grab her fallen weapon, Ashley continued to check out the surroundings. All was calm. All was quiet. All was dead. She stood up, checking the clip of her rifle, before taking starting foreward. Her boots crunched on the crusty ground, leaving behind a clear set of footprints. Figuring that leaving a trail could lead to people tracking her, if any were alive, and decided not to take that chance. She walked on the ruin asphalt road, looking at all of the cracks and holes in it from years of neglect.

Rusty frames of cars were stopped in the middle of the road, with blacked skeletons trapped inside, their hands clawing at the doors. Fragments of clothing clung to the bones, but even that was falling apart. "What the hell happened here?" Ashley asked out loud to no one, glancing into the back seat of a rusty blue car, and seeing the remains of a small child. "The Covenant," she said, "the Covenant had to have been the ones that did this." If that were true, the she would be back in her own world, or some screwed up version of it. Yanking the ancient car door off its hinges, and throwing it aside, Ashley began to inspect the bones, looking for plasma burns and other indication of Covenant weapons. She propped her rifle against the side of the vehicle, and reached for the driver's skull, running her hands over it, seeing it any ash or soot rubbed off, which would indicate a fire. Nothing. It was a normal skull, darkened for some reasons. She tossed the skull back into the car, and picked up her rifle.

Casting the remains one last glance, Ashley began to wonder what the people's last moments were like, and what had killed them all. Then, gunshots echoed out. Not in the distance, but just a few yards away. Ashley whipped her assualt rifle in the direction of the shots, taking care to keep an eye on her motion tracker. Several white dots were dancing around on the blue circle, moving around in erratic movements until one dissappeared.

A man came running around the corner of a broken wooden house, breathing heavily as he reloaded his pistol. He had rags on for clothes, with the outfit barely hanging onto him. Peeking around the corner, it appeared the he didn't notice the large orange armored being just to the left of him. He poked his pistol out around the edge and fired several shots, before jerking back into cover as fully automatic assault rifles fired back, putting quite a few holes where the man had been only seconds ago.

Sighing, Ashley walked past the man, who was staring up at her in awe, shock, and surprise. She saw who the attackers were, a group of four men walking calmly forward. They froze in their tracks when they saw the Spartan, and turned to each other, sharing faces of WTF. A few seconds later, they hesistantly raised their weapons, and fired. Ashley smirked as her shields shrugged off the rounds with ease, and slowly the men stopped firing, now completely concerned for their lives. Raising the rifle up slowly, Ashley unloaded the whole clip at the men. They took off screaming profanities, firing the occasional shot back at her, but they never hit their target. Ashley didn't hit them either, but that was because, after seeing all that the Covenant had done to humans, she could barely bring herself to kill another human. And mainly she didn't know where the men's loyalty lied, and she didn't want to kill the good guys.

Ejecting the empty clip and letting it fall to the cracked and broken asphalt road beneath her, Ashley reached for another clip, only to realize that she didn't have any more on her. Quietly growling in rage, the Spartan returned her weapon to her back, and turned to the man. He was cowering behind a rusty blue mailbox, aiming his pistol at her with a quivering hand.

"I'll sh-shoot you if y-you come any cl-closer," he stammered, scared to death.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Ashley said, trying to comfort him. "And besides, my gun went dry."

The man was unconvinced. "Toss me your gun, and then I'll believe you," he replied, miraculously overcoming his stammering problems. "And make sure that you keep your hands where I can see them."

With a single motion, moving faster than any normal human could, her left hand flew behind her back, grabbed her rifle, and threw it at the man. He ducked down behind the mailbox as the weapon sailed over him, and then stood up again, steadying his pistol. "Nice try," he mocked. "I could have thrown better than that."

"Prove it," Ashley retorted, folding her arms. The smile on the man's faced slowly faded as he wavered slightly, and reached down to get the rifle. With one hand, he slung in sloppily into the air, where it landed several feet from Ashley. "I thought as much."

"You promise that you're not going to hurt me?" the man asked, as he lowered his pistol. Ashley internally groaned, as she had yet to figure this man out. First he seemed to put up a fight, then he acted cowardly, then snarky, then cowardly again. "I promise." The man sighed in relief. "If you're looking for your friend, I know where to find him."

"What friend?"

"The one with armor like yours, only it's blue, and looks different," he replied. "He's holding up in an old gas station just north of here." He pointed with his free hand into the distance, and Ashley could make out a small service station when she used her helmet's zoom.

"I see it," she said. "Are you sure that he looked like me?" Nodding, the man holstered his pistol.

"He looked like you, fought like you, execpt he hit what he was shooting at." He folded his arms, and coughed. "Although I think he may be kinda stupid. He kept ranting on and on about some aliens...what did he call them? The Convent?"

"Covenant?" Ashley suggested, gripping her knife that was sheathed on her chestplate and pulling it out to give her a sense of security. The man nodded again.

"That what he called them. You know 'em?"

"Yeah, biggest bunch of bastards someone could ever meet."

The man's eyebrows shot up for a split second, before the came down. "Well, in that case, I think I'll just leave."

"Just one more question."

"What?"

"What the hell happened here?" Ashley asked, guesturing around them to the wasteland landscape and the ruined buildings. "Some kind of apocalypse?"

He nodded a third time. "Them damn commies nuked us, and we nuked them back. This was the end result. Those assholes weren't thinking over future generations," he said, as he turned and walked into the distance. After watching him vanish on the horizon line, Ashley turned back to the direction of the gas station, and zoomed in again, looking at the distance in between there and where she stood, looking for any source of threat.

"Looks clear," she muttered, as she continued walking toward the ruined serivce station, tightening her grip on the knife.

She passed ruins of a time long lost on her way there. The ruins of elementry school stood tall, remaining the most intact of all the buildings in the area. The top three floors were completely gone, and from the holes in the walls she could see that sections of floor were missing on all floors. The sign above the door read Springvale Elementry School, and Ashley paused, sighing as she though of all the children that were attending the school when the nuking occured. They probably heard the news from a teacher, and would be unable to be with their family when they died.

Turning her head back to the direction she was going, Ashley decided that going into the building wasn't the best choice. Sure, she'd seen tons of bodies of children of all ages that had been slaughtered by the Covenant, but seeing the remains of kids and knowing that other humans had done been the reason of their death just sickened her.

The ground crackled under her feet, and Ashley walked on, arriving outside of the service station several minutes later. Activating her night vison, she tried to peer through the dust covered windows to see if anyone was inside, and she was sure that she saw something move inside. Gripping the doorknob, she twisted it and pushed the door inwards, which squeaked as it moved on its age old hinges. "Hello?" she called into the darkness of the inside.

There was no response, but a tall figure slowly stepped out of the shadows, wearing heavy armor and carrying what Ashley recognized as a DMR. "Who are you?" the other Spartan asked with a demanding voice. "How did you get here?"

"I Ashley B341," she answered, staring at the other Spartan's armor configuration. It was mostly the Commando variant, with a gold visor and a Mark VI shoulder piece on his right shoulder. "I really can't explain how I got here though."

"Fair enough," the other Spartan replied. "I don't know how I got here either." He held his armored hand out to her. "I'm Carter, Spartan A259. I thought I was all alone out here."

"Me too," Ashley agreed, shaking his hand. "How long have you been here?"

Carter shrugged and propped his rifle against the rotting wooden counter. "Three days. Three days ago, I woke up on the ground several miles north of here, with no idea where I was. Last thing that I remembered was crashing my Pelican into the Scarab."

Ashley nodded. "Those things are a bitch to take out. I was sucked out into a slipspace void."

"Wouldn't that kill you?"

"Wouldn't crashing into a Scarab kill you?"

"Good point."

Sighing Ashley leaned against the wall, which groaned and threatened to collapse under her weight. "So what's our next move. We can't just stay here forever."

"All I want," Carter said, "is to know that Six and Emile got the package to the Pillar of Autumn, and that the ship is safely away."

Ashley bit her lip, remembering Six's last words to her. They had been in an arguement, and she broke off from them. She fought at Six's side for a while as the replacement for Jorge. Which brought up the question; Why didn't Carter recognize her? "We ever met before?" she asked him.

"No, I don't think so," he answered. "Why?"

Ashley shrugged. "Just look familiar that's all." She walked over to the counter where tons of yellowing travel brouchures were laying spread out, each turned to the maps. "Guessing you were planning a trip?"

Carter nodded. "Just trying to find a way out of this dead place." Picking up a brouchure, Ashley read from it.

_Come and see the newly discovered Egyptian treasure, the Anhk Keystone! Now on Exhibit at the Museum of History!_

Below the text was a faded picture of a small CD shaped object with a red gem in the middle. Runes and glyphs covered the round stone, making it appear quite special. A smile slowly formed on her face as she remembered what she had heard about the keystones. "I think I know how to get out of here."

  **Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy; USA, Prime World**

**Friday 13, September**

****

I groaned as I crouched down to open my locker. I was among the several dozen unlucky people to get a bottom locker, which was a bitch to work with. Twisting the combination on the locker, I opened the small red door and dumped my Physical Science book in there, not bothering with organization, and reached into the far back for my notecards for Latin II. The hallway was crowded, since some genius decided to cram 10th, 11th, and 12th grades all on one hall that could only hold roughly a hundred people. Slamming the door shut and relocking it, I stood up, and began walking down the hall toward the classroom.

_They're coming for you._

I didn't think that. Someone, or something had thought it for me. After freaking out for a second, I continued walking, attributing it to my recent lack of sleep on account of working on several fanfictions.

  _You're not safe here. Run._

Oh, right. There was a deity messing with my head, forcing me to write a story for some unknow reason. The thing in my head had been pestering me since early December in 2012.

_Run._

I stood in the middle of the hall, looking like a complete idiot. My mind was racing, trying to figure out what to do. I could stay, or I could leave like the deity in my head ordered me.

No contest. If you have a god thing in your head, invading your thoughts, listen to it. So far, it's saved my life six times.

I began to casually walk toward the gym at the end of the hall, pretending that I was supposed to be going there. You might think that I bought the whole voice in my head thing pretty easily, but I had gotten used to it.

I heard screams behind me, and broke out into a run, heading for the exit.

_Keep running. Don't look behind you._

Of course, I then looked behind me. Six men in trenchcoats were running down the hall, pushing students aside with their free hands, and in their other hand, they carried weapons. A mix of revolvers and pistols, while one weilded an SMG, looking exactly like the ones from Halo 3.

 _It's you they want. Run. Get out of here as fast as you can._ _You no good to me dead._

My heart was racing as I dumped all my books and notecards on the floor as I picked up the pace. Being fifteen, it's hard to escape some guys with guns, you know. I burst out the double doors, looking both ways as I took off up the hill that led to the parking lot.

My best hope would be that some idiot left his keys in the ignition and the car unlocked. Of course, I didn't even have my permit yet, so me driving was highly illegal. Not that I care.

Gunshots rang out as I tried all of the handles on the doors, to no success until I reached a faded blue 1988 Ford truck, which I yanked on the handle and the door flew open, revealing the keys right there on the seat. I jumped in and fumbled the keys, jamming them into the ignition, and quickly buckling my seat belt for safe measure.

A bullet hit the back of the truck, and I looked over and saw the men running straight at me, guns blazing. I put the thing in gear, and floored the gas, and the truck lurched forward, tires kicking up dirt. Carefully getting onto the road, I looked in the rear-view mirror, and saw the men standing in the parking lot, calmly lowering their weapons as they turned away.

My heart was beating like a hammer, almost non-stop. "What the hell was that all about?" I asked to no one in general as I took a turn that would lead me home. My mom was working, and my dad was in Wyoming on a business trip, so this would be the perfect chance to hide out there.

_They are agents of Giovanni. Perhaps you recognized them._

My mind raced, thinking about their faces. Then it hit me. "Those were the gunners that I made up for Hearts of Darkness," I realized, thinking about the fanfiction I wrote on one of the three sites I frequented. "They're not real."

_And yet, they're out hunting you. You're going to have to abandon all you have in order to survive. You'll have to journey to the Sidera, and defeat Giovanni with the help of the others._

"Great," I muttered. "Now shut up and let me drive."


	7. Dust and Echoes

**Washington D.C., United States of America**

**September 4**

"You do realize where we are, right?" Carter asked, attaching his DMR onto the magnetic plates on his back. "This is some alternate version of Earth."

Ashley grimly nodded, tossing some of Carter's MRE supply into her side pouch. "I figured that out when I read that brochure. The Museum of History is on Earth." She paused, casting a glance at Carter. She couldn't see his facial expression, since his helmet covered it up. "Well, are you ready to move out?"

Shrugging, Carter nodded. "I guess so. Are you sure that this'll work? That what ever that thing is can really get us outta here?"

"It's our best bet," Ashley said, snatching her knife off of the dusty, age-old counter. "I hope that it'll work."

Carter still seem unconvinced. "It's something that was dug up centuries ago, in Egypt. It's probably just some cermonial trinket that the museum tried to aggrandize by making it seem more important."

Ashley rubbed the back of her neck. "Maybe, maybe not. But I have my reasons for believing that it will." The door squeaked on its rusty hinges as she opened the door, holding open for Carter. "Although, it's kinda of hard to explain.

"I'll believe anything right now," Carter said walking out the door, and into the wastes. "After all, it appears that we somehow got stranded in some messed up form of Earth. So, try me."

Ashley followed him out, holding up the brochure for the museum. "It should be about twenty miles north of here," she read, glancing at the faded map on the other side. "We follow this road for a few miles," Ashley pointed at the cracked asphalt trail that led into the ruins of the city, "and then we go from there."

Carter nodded, folding his arms as he started walking. "You haven't told me your reasons for believing that this stone can get us out of here. The only reason that I'm actually going along with this was because I was getting bored in that station."

Taking a deep breath, Ashley began to tell her tale to her fellow Spartan. "I was escaping Reach as a stowaway on a Covenant ship, and in the end, I got sucked into the slipspace void. I woke up in a strange place, where they were other Spartans, but they weren't really Spartans, they just had the armor."

Carter nodded. "I'll buy that. I crashed into a Scarab, and woke up here."

"Then, me, Tucker and Grif, two of these non-Spartans, somehow ended up in another reality, and well...before I can continue, I'll need to explain what the Sidera is."

She noted that Carter remained silent, and went on her with explanation. "The Sidera is sort of this world inbetween other worlds. Ours, this one, Tucker and Grif's, and many countless more. It's the parallel to the Prime World, which is the world where other worlds are created. You believe me so far?"

"Yeah, so far. Honestly, my mind is pretty screwed up. I'll believe anything as long as it offers some sort of explanation as to why we're stuck here."

"Okay. Now, there is a group of eight worlds that make up the Res'nee worlds, and in each of those realms, there's a keystone hidden. If the keystones are brought together, then one can gain access to the Prime World."

"And you think that that stone in the museum might be the keystone from this world," Carter piece together. "If you're right, and I would believe so, then I guess we need to find this stone."

"If Giovanni hasn't already gotten it," Ashley muttered.

The blue Spartan glanced over at her. "I'm going to take a guess that this Giovanni wants to get them all for some reason."

"Pretty much," she answered. "There's something there that he wants, and he claims that it's complete domination of all of the worlds. He's quite charming in person."

Carter tapped the M6C pistol on his hip. "If you see him, I can hit him. He's only a man."

Ashley chuckled. "My my, you're in for quite a surprised when you meet him," she said, sheathing her combat knife. "The man is practically a god, with powers that no human should have. He thinks that he is the ultimate power in all worlds, and I'm planning on proving him wrong."

"Hold up," Carter ordered suddenly, and Ashley complied. "We've got company." He pointed at a group of people coming at them, rifles in hand. Each person was decked out in slapdash armor, something that looked like it had been put together in minutes. Most of the pieces seemed to be everyday objects; plates, metal pots, planks of wood. Some had rather interesting pieces on their armor; tires and what appeared to be part of a desk chair as a chest plate.

"I wouldn't go that way if I were you," one of the men, apparently the leader, called out as they got closer. "Them damn mutants had most of the city overrun, and they put up a hel'ova fight."

"We can take care of ourselves," Carter informed them. "We also put up a hel'ova fight."

The man shrugged. "Yeah, sure. But when they hack your limbs off and feast on your organs, don't say that I didn't tell you so." He stepped out of the Spartan's way, motioning for the rest of his troops to do so as well.

"Hey," Ashley suddenly said, remembering that her MA37 was out of ammo. "You wouldn't be willing to give me a gun, would you?"

"You got the money, I'm sure something could be worked out," one of them said. "Or you can tell us where you guys get that badass armor, and that'll work."

The lead man nodded. "Which one were you lookin' at?"

Carter grabbed her arm. "You can take my pistol. We don't know how well their weapons work."

Ashley shook him off, and her eye darted from gun to gun. They mostly had assault rifles, but one appeared to be holding a nice 12 gauge shotgun. "Maybe that one," she said pointing.

Nodding the man holding it handed to her, so she could look it over. "It's a pretty good shot, and blows your foe away with ease," he said, sounding like one of those TV commercial people. "Simple to operate, and ammo is quite easy to come by, even in this wasteland."

"Come on," Carter insisted. "We've got nothing that they'd want anyway. Your friend Giovanni might already be at the museum."

Ashley took her assault rifle off of her back and held it out to the leader. "Would this be a good trade?" she asked. "It's out of ammo, but it takes 7.62mm rounds, if you have any."

The man took the MA37 from her, and looked it over. "Seems really high-tech," he stated, flipping a switch on one side, ejecting the clip. He caught it and handed it to the sole woman in the group. "Saunders, fill that up with some of your ammo."

Saunders took it, and began digging into one of her many pouches, and began loading bullets into the clip. "It holds thirty-two," Ashley helpfully added, but Saunders just grumbled something. A minute later, Saunders tossed the clip back to the leader.

He slotted it in, whistling when he saw the blue display a glow 32. "Damn, this is nice," he said. "Allright, it's a trade." Ashley slung the 12 gauge onto her back, and the MA37 was handed to the man that had the shotgun to begin with. "Give her some shells, too."

The man walked over with his hands cupped, overflowing with shells. Ashley noted that they looked indentical to the shells from her world, so she figured that she shouldn't have to much trouble with the weapon. She took them and dumped them into her pouch.

The leader tipped his dirty red baseball cap. "Pleasure doing business with ya, I wish you luck in the journey through the remains of DC." He motioned to his group, and they walked on, each trying to get the chance to hold the new weapon.

"That was a stupid deal," Carter said, watching as they left. "The MA37 was better than that shotgun."

"I know," Ashley told him, turning back to the direction of the museum. "But this gun is more conveinent. It's easier to load, and I don't have to refill the clip everytime I empty it. And shotgun shells are easy to find."

Carter threw his hands up in defeat. "Whatever. Just don't complain when you want that Assault Rifle back."

They walked in silence for several minutes, until Ashley spoke, glaring at the dead city. "So, that's DC?"

"What's left of it," Carter said grimly. "Apparently, there was a nuclear war, and this was the outcome. Total destruction. Makes me sick."

"Look on the brightside," Ashley added. "No Covenant."

"Somehow, I get the feeling that they'll be the last of our worries."

They reached the edge of the ruined city, gazing around at the collasped buildings and piles of concrete covering the roads. Rusty cars lined what was left of the streets, tires long since rotted away, or stolen to use as armor. A few skeletons lay here or there, and one had its hands tightly clutched around a baby carriage, which contained a really small jumbled of bones.

"You were right," Ashley told Carter. "This is sickening, but the Covenant were worse."

"Were they?" Carter countered. "Killing is killing, no matter who does it, humans or genocidal aliens." He paused, letting it sink in. "How far the the museum?"

Ashley checked the brochure's map. "Um..." she looked around, trying to find any landmarks she could use. Finally, settling for the remains of Joe's Cuppa Joe coffee shop, she calculated the distance. "About a mile, straight in front of us."

Carter nodded. "Let's make this fast, okay?" When Ashley nodded, they took off sprinting, hoping to avoid whatever the man had referred to as mutants.

"Hostile!" Carter shouted, jumping to the side as a volley of bullets lit up the streets. Ashley dove to the ground, hands flying to her shotgun, and her eyes trying to locate the enemy.

"Where?" she shouted, flinching as a bullet hit the cracked pavement mere inches from her head. "I don't see him." A red marker appeared on her HUD, denoting the location of the shooter. He was up on the top floor of a wrecked building, shooting out of a giant hole in the wall. Using her helmet's zoom feature, she took a look at the attack.

It looked human, but only slightly. It was larger, its mucles larger and its skin was green, with veins popping out here and there. Its the skin on its face was tight, pulling its lips up over its gums, revealing yellowing teeth. In its hands it carried a minigun, with an ammo box on his back.

"Oh hell," Ashley cursed, as another wave of bullets whizzed past her. "Take that thing out!"

Over the whirr of the minigun, Ashley heard the three sharp cracks of the DMR. Then, silence. "Got it," Carter annoucned. "Armor piercing arounds blew his head to hell." He walked over to Ashley, and held his hand out to help her up. "Now we really need to hurry. There's probably more of them."

But Ashley didn't answer, she was too busy staring at the man with the black trench coat and black fedora, standing across the street from them. "Giovanni," she muttered, and Carter looked over at the man.

"So we meet again, dear Ashley," Giovanni said. "I can't possibly imagine what you were after in this run down city." He pulled a disk shaped object from his pocket, and held it up. It was the keystone. "This, perhaps?" A smile played across his ominous face. "This makes five."

Carter aimed his DMR at Giovanni's head, and without hesistation, fired. Giovanni's hand moved over in front of his face, and he closed his fist. All of that happened almost instantly, making it almost unseeable with the human eye.

"Pathetic attempt, Carter," Giovanni said, opening his hand. The DMR bullet fell to the ground. "But you can't possibly kill me. Not by those means."

"I notice that you don't have you goons with you," Ashley pointed out, knowing that she and Carter were on the losing side.

Giovanni chuckled. "Those goons are preoccupied, and preparing to launch the major attack against the city of Guirel, in the Sidera." He paused, wishing he could see Ashley's expression, but her helmet made that impossible. "That's right, we've broken through into the Sidera, one step closer to my goal."

Giovanni turned his back to them. Carter raised his DMR again, but Ashley lowered it. "Don't bother," she said, watching as the man in black waved both of his hands, opening two portals.

"This is where we part ways, dear Ashley," Giovanni said, "and since I'm such a nice individual, I'll let you return to the Sidera, although I'm sure there's nothing you can do." He grinned evilly, backing into the portal on the left, which then faded.

Ashley groaned, and looked into the portal on the right. She could see a shanty diner, with a few metal shacks surrounding it. The desert background pretty much pointed to the Sidera as the loctaion. "Well, we have no where else to go," she sighed, turning to Carter. "You coming?"

He shrugged. "What the hell. I have nothing better to do anyway."

They stepped through the portal. "I told you that I knew how to get out of here," Ashley said, as the reappeared on the outskirts of the small town.

"Yeah," Carter agreed. "But that's not how you meant it."

"Whatever." She glanced around. It wasn't the town she had been in, and she didn't know where she was. "This is great."


	8. I Get a Cat, Guirel Gets War

__

 Somewhere Along a NC state road, USA, Prime World  
October 22, 2013

I'd been away from home for over a month. It was hard having to adapt, but on the brightside, I didn't have any homework. At least, not until I went back. If I ever did.

It was several hours past midday, but the trees blocked out the sun's light. Leaves crunched under my feet as I walked alongside the road, which heading to where I was going. To find the one other human on the planet that even knew what the Sidera was.

(I know you readers know now. But despite the date, this was months ago.)

Kara McKinney and I had been friends since second grade, even though we hadn't seen each other in years. One time, she had been hospitalized with appendicitis. Out of boredom, she started emailing me, asking me what book she should read. Because I'm an asshole, I told her to read The Tale of the Sidera.

And thus, the Sidera was born.

She easily saw through that, since she had done the same to one of her friends. But, instead of the Sidera, she used her made up world known as the Disare. See the resemblence? Then, Kara told me that she wanted me to make up a story of the Sidera.

That caught me off guard, but I began typing. Instead of a novel, I wrote an epic poem, much like that of Homer and Aeneis. Honestly, I was trying to do something like Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It came naturally, but now, I know why.

I told of the people living in various stages of civilization. I told of the worlds webbed together by the Sidera. I told of the keystones to our world. I told of the heros that fought to beat the invincible darkness that threated to claim the worlds.

There was Ashley, the sign of strength, and the warrior. There was Tucker, the sign of power, and the pervert. There was Luke, the sign of wisedom, the smart one. And then there was the other. He was an undeveloped character, with nothing about him known. I simply called him N, for nobody.

But, there was never an ending. I was almost done, and then I drew a blank. It stopped flowing naturally. The heros were facing the last stand, facing hordes of enemies, each amped up and ready to slaughter them. And that's where it ended.

It bugged me so much over the years, but every time I went back to finish it, I never typed another word. In my eight grade poetry contest, it won second place. My teachers said it would've won first no doubt if I had finished it.

Then, I left if alone. Began playing too many video games. First was Star Wars, then Pokemon, and then Halo. In the time of a year, I had dropped easily five-hundred bucks on different video games. That made my parents proud.

In fifth grade, I had stumbled across the wonderous world of fan fiction. The thought that I could create my own stories based on characters of games I loved was too much for my mind. That's how I spent 1/3 of my time. The other two thirds were on video games and homework, which, coincidently, my grades began to slip at this time.

In eighth grade, shortly after the beginning-of-the-year poetry contest, something far more fascinating than video games, fan fiction, or the Sidera, came into my life. Girls. I had a crush on this girl in eight grade, and never really did anything about it. Although I died a little on the inside when she didn't sign my yearbook at the end of the year. But I really think that she might've liked me, maybe not on a romantical standpoint, but in general.

In ninth grade, I liked the same girl, along with another girl, and did nothing about either of the crushes. Hey, I'm shyer than fuck, okay? Even though my kidnergarten teacher said she could help fix my social problems when I was five, she failed at it. Anyway, later that year, on November 15th, 2012, I published my first work of fan fiction on FanFiction.Net. It was...Three Are Better Than One. I got the whole idea for it in Latin one day.

It went well from there, I published this story, and then Move On, My Spartan. Only TABTO and Move On were any good at the time. At that time, this story was just supposed to be a giant crossover of several games, but then I noticed how it was starting to fall in line when with the Tale of the Sidera. And that's when the deity came.

It December 21st, 2012. The acclaimed end of the world. I had just posted chapter 14 for Three Are Better Than One, and was curling up in my blankets to play some Halo 4. I heard a voice in my head. It was one of the stanzas of my poem.

Though the heroes fought and fought,  
The darkness, one by one, found what it sought.  
The man in black grew stronger,  
Waiting until the heros could fight no longer.

That's what she said. No, seriously, that's what she told me first. I was in the middle of the level Midnight, trying to complete the campaign on Legendary to get my Mark VI. It scared the shit out of me.

At first, I figured that it was my own mind that said it, and that something in the game had triggered it. But, later, she spoke again.

When the heroes face impossible odds,  
On the desert plains of Yodds,  
They were surrounded, their time out.  
That's when they heard the shout.

That was the last stanza. The place where the ending should go. Now, as I flew my Broadsword through the Didact's ship, I was freaking out. The next day, she and I communed with each other, and eventually, over that summer, she was giving me advice on how to do things, and telling me to write the story of the Sidera.

So, I found that The Journey Ahead was a good place to start, and that's when it all began. Which brings us back to now. I'm sure from the previous chapters, you know what happened to me.

I had been traveling for several weeks, having to remain out of sight while making my way to Kara's house. Unfortunately, she lived on the whole other side of the county. That made things difficult, since I couldn't use the truck I hijacked. No doubt that it had been reported, and the police out looking for it.

Hours later, the sun was beginning to set in the distance. "Great," I groaned, shrugging my shoulders to accomodate the backpack on my back. It was filled with my laptop, it's charger cord, my Ipod, it's charger cord, my phone, it's charger cord, along with a knife for protection, and some food and spare clothes. The inside pocket of my jackter contained my other defense object. I gripped a flashlight tightly in my hand.

The gunmen at school had been of my creation, which really freaked me out. If any of you have ever played Animation vs Animator, this was like that. Some of my own creations were out hunting me, and I was unable to stop them.

If those gunmen were really here, on Earth, then that could mean that the demons I created for the Sidera could be here as well. And I made them far more harrowing than the gunners.

But, what were the odds of that?

The deity in my head had advised me to pack a lot of light, just in case. After all, it said that the separation of the Sidera and the Prime World was deterorating, with small holes appearing in it. This allowed some beings to get through, although the imbalance in the separation was soon fixed by full parts warping over it, becoming thinner and more easy to break.

Leaves fell from their trees, like angels falling from heaven to the hell of Earth's surface. Stars were beginning to sparkle in the sky, signaling that night was fast approaching. This casued my to quicken my pace.

It was roughly another mile to Kara's house, another 5,280 feet. Basically, another eternity of walking. Why didn't I take the car?

There was the chirping of crickets, the sound of my footfalls, the occasional car passing by that would slow down when they saw me. Other than that, it was silent. I had one of those weird feelings inside of me, mainly the butterflies in the stomach mixed with exciement. I was a runaway, fleeing assassins out to kill me. Damn, this would make a good book.

Oh, wait. It kinda is.

In the North Carolinian country side, there's practically a lot of wide open spaces. Pastures, farms, forests, and other similar places covered the state. I passed by a cow pasture, where all of the fat creatures casually looked up at me, chewing their cud.

I pulled the hood of my burgandy school hoodie over my head, since the tempature was dropping as the day faded to night. If a cop were to pass by, then this would look suspicious to him, so I had to be careful. After all, I was carrying weapons.

A black cat crossed my path.

Normally, I would've shrugged it off. But this was different. "Scram," I told it, shooing it away with my hands. It simply meowed in response, completely oblivious to the fact that I didn't want it around.

I walked onward, and the cat followed. At first, I thought that it might be an attempt to get food, but after several minutes, it was still diligent in following me. I threw my hands up in defeat, and turned to face it. "I guess that you're going to stick with me, right?"

It nodded. That scared me. Cats...they can't understand human. Perhaps it was just some coincidence..."Fine. Then don't bother me, and we'll get along fine, Shade," I said, picking them name out at random, mainly due to her black fur.

And, with that settled, we were off. On to Kara's house, where I could hopefully seek asylum.

 

Town of Feriges, Sidera  
September 5

 

Tucker looked around at the small town. Sand-blasted houses stood here and there, the paint from the wood flaked off from sandstorms. There was a small diner, with the neon lights flickering and buzzing.

People walked here and there on the cracked, sandy pavement, each going in their own ways. A man sat on a worn stone bench next to the door of the diner, picking out a high-pitch, off-key song on an old electric guitar hooked up to an even older amplifier. This town looked run down, a Shantytown of the Siderian wastes.

Most people were wearing a mix of tunics and homemade armor, while people clad in armor similiar to what was worn by the troops of that Giovanni fellow stood on the streets and at the edge of the town, armed with both new and old weapons. They were the soldiers of the small town, forced to defend it from raiders.

"Halt," one said, raisng his hand.

Miranda applyed the brakes, slowing the vehicle to a stop. "Is there a problem?" she asked through the opened window.

"No, but we have to do mandatory inspections of each person that comes into Feriges," the soldier explained, removing his light green helmet. "We can't let raiders in here, that just wouldn't do."

Dismissing the idea with a wave of her hand, Miranda continued. "We're not raiders; we just want a place to rest for the night. Any motels or whatever?"

The soldier shrugged, while two other armored humans peered in through the windows, counting up the number of weapons in the vehicle. "There's Dick's, but it's not the best place to stay. Sand in ever nook and cranny."

Casting a glaced back at the vast desert behind them, Luke commented "Better than out there, right?"

The man nodded. "We'll let you in. You don't seem to be a threat. But," he jerked his thumb back over at the tallest building in the town, which was a two-story building dead in the center of the small settlement, "if you do anything rash, Awiny will put a round right between your eyes."

If one was to squint, they would be able to make out the Jackal on the rooftop, weilding a sniper rifle of human design. He gave a snarl, and resumed his watch, peering down the scope, moving in a slow circle to get a view of all his surroundings.

The pickup slowly manuvered through the streets, boucning up and down with every crack in the pavement. After several minutes, they reached a wooden building. There was a faded, age-old sign outside that read: _Dick's Halfway Inn._

Tucker read the sign, and again and again. He promptly burst into laughter. "We're staying at Dick's Halfway Inn? That's what my-"

"Tucker, now's not the time," Luke chastised, sparing the three of them from a perverted comment.

Miranda nodded. "We can rest here until morning. The sun's about to set," she pointed at a mountain range in the distance, with each mountian seeming to be a perfect triangular shape. There was a sun slowly descending toward them.

"I thought there wasn't a definite time here," Luke said, blocking the sun's glare with his hand.

"There isn't, but days come and go," Miranda explained. "There have been several attempts to decree a set time, but all have horribly failed in one way or another. Tucker, hand me the rifle."

The teal non-Spartan passed her the BR55, and for a minute, Miranda eyes wandered up and down the weapon, memories coming back to her. Then, she snapped out of her daydreams, and raised the gun at the mountains, looking through the scope. "Eh, you can barely see them," she muttered.

"See what?" Luke asked, squinting at the mountains, but seeing nothing.

"Here." Miranda gave him the battle rifle. "Aim just to the left of the two peaks there." Luke did as she instructed, and barely made out several thin lines sticking up above the peaks. "Those are the towers of Guirel. Easily the tallest buildings known to man on Earth and in the Sidera," Miranda informed them. "That's the most fortifed city as well. MAC guns, guass cannons, OPDs, you name the weapon, they've got it. Nothing will ever pass through those walls alive unless they want it to."


	9. Reunions

__ _Chapter Nine: Reunions_

**Town of Feriges, Sidera**

**September 6**

Ashley walked slowly down the streets of the small town, Carter following a few yards behind her. He seemed rather passive of the situation, most likely because he's given up all hope of comprehending what was going on.

Helmet tucked under her shoulder, people would stare at her. They weren't those 'looks at those two badasses' stares, they were the 'what the hell are those freaks?' stares. All it took was a simple glare down at the civilians to send them scattering back on their way.

The small town was in obvious disrepair, with most of the windows on the buildings shattered, doors falling off their hinges, and streetlights flickering.

Judging from the position of the sun in the sky, which was just starting to rise on the horizon, it was early morning here in town, designated Feriges as written on the rotting wooden sign in the middle of the settlement.

"I've seen places that Covenant have massacred that were in better shape than this place," Carter muttered, as part of the sidewalk crumbled under his wieght.

Ashley nodded. "Perhaps a glassing will be an improvement." Children garbed in loose fitting tunics ran by, chasing one another in the ageless game of tag. The Spartan watched them, smiling at the fact that they could find a source of happiness in this wasteland of the damned.

Carter pointed ahead of them, at the diner they saw on their way in. "Let's get some food there, and plan our next move," he said, retaining the same leader tone that Ashley had known him to have back on her days in Noble Team.

"We need to find a way to warn Guirel," Ashley said, "I don't want Giovanni to gain a foot hold in the Sidera."

"In your own words, you called him a god," Carter reminded her. "He's not going to be easy to kill." He paused. "Even I think that he's impossible to kill."

Ashley blinked. "And in your own words, you called him a man. And man is man's worst enemy."

"I thought that was the Covenant..."

Shrugging, she and Noble One walked into the diner, looking around at the fiftys style interior. There was black-and-white checkered tiles, red bar with matching bar stools, and a jukebox in the corner. Ashley let out a low whistle as she assessed the cleanness of the area.

"For a place stuck out in the middle of shantytown in the middle of the SIdera, this place is pretty damn clean," she said, staring at herself in the relfection of a window. "I wish we had some money to get some food here."

"Money's no object," a man said as he walked over to them. He was Russian, wearing modern waiter attire, with a pen and pad in his hand. "I don't charge anything here," he said, in a thick Russian accent. "People eat free here."

Ashley and Carter shot each other a sidelong glance, and the smiled. "That's nice," Ashley said after a few seconds, "You have burgers here?"

"Only the best in the worlds," the man replied. "Most of our beef comes from Gyure, just a couple of miles south. They raise the biggest cows you've ever seen." He scribbled the orders on the notepad, "what to drink?"

"Water," Carter replied.

"Coca-Cola," Ashley replied, looking at a glass bottle sitting on the counter. She liked Pepsi better, but she would settle for coke. That one was alway Six's favorite.

"Coming right up," the man said, heading for the kitchen. "Please, seat yourselves."

They took a booth by the door, seats groaning under the wieght of their armor. Ashley set her helmet on the table, and Carter did the same.

"So," Carter said, striking up a converstaion. "Just how do you plan on beating this Giovanni? If he's a god, then you don't have much of a chance."

Ashley shrugged. "I don't know," she answered, honestly. "He always seems a step ahead of us, no matter how hard we try. I think our best bet would have to be the deity in the well."

Carter raised his eyebrows. "Please, explain."

"Somewhere, there's a town called Sigers, I think, that last s might not need to be there. Anyway, there's a well there, surrounded by eight pillars, and in the well, there's a deity, waiting for the right person to come along and unite with it."

"I see," Carter said, obviously lying. "But, how will you find this certain person? I mean, there's got to be billions of people."

Sighing, Ashley flicked the salt shaker, knocking it over. "I don't know. I just don't know." She rested her head in her armored hands. "I don't think I can do this. All I want is to go home."

"Me too," Carter agreed. "I've got a better solution. Although the chances of it are very slim. What if I were to tell you that you weren't real?"

"What?"

"That desert wasn't the first place I ended up in," Carter said. "I lied to you. I didn't want you to know. The first place I visited was another alternate version of Earth. The year was 2013. I found out that there, all of our lives were not real. In fact, we were just video game characters."

Ashley looked up at him. "What are you talking about?"

Carter sighed. "This is what's been screwing up my head. I can't understand it. In that world, I was a character in a game called Halo Reach. Don't ask me where the Halo came from, I have no clue. I think you can figure out the Reach part."

"Are you being serious?"

Nodding, Carter continued. "But...think about it. If our lives in one world were a video game, a creation of someone, then perhaps this life we're in now is a game, movie, or book in a different world. The matter would be to get to that world, and all we would have to do is delete Giovanni."

Ashley considered it. "I think you might have something there. If the Prime World is where all of the other worlds generated, then that might mean that the Sidera generated there. So, there could be someone there that can help us..."

"Exactly," Carter said. "If that can be done, then we'll have Giovanni beat. All we have to do is find the person who invented the Sidera, and we'll kill a god."

"That is if you're right."

Carter shrugged. "It's a theory. Kat might've been able to prove it or something, if she were here..."

Ashley nodded. "But first, we need to save Guirel from the attack. Then we can focus on getting to the Prime World."

Carter shook his head. "The first thing we need to do is eat." He pointed at the waiter, coming with a tray that held two plates.

"Two burgers," the man said, setting one plate down in front of each Spartan. "And your drinks." He slid them on the table bartender style. "Now, is there anything else that I can get you?"

"Do you have a way to contact the city of Guirel?" Ashley asked, picking up one of the fries on her plate. "We need to tell them that there's going to be an attack on the city."

The man burst into laughter. "Someone's attacking Guirel? They must have a death wish. That place has guns that could put a round straight through the mountians! They've got helicopters armed with nuclear missles, and guns that strike from the heavens."

"Well...okay..."

"The first, and last, people to ever go to war with Guirel were the people of Madrigil," he explained. "They lasted three days. Their city's ruins are a few miles north. Some claim it's haunted though." He walked back to the kitchen, leaving the Spartans to eat.

"This is the best damn food I've eaten," Carter exclaimed, taking another huge bite of the burger. "Seriously, Ashley, try this stuff."

Ashley carefully took a bite of her burger. The taste was undescribleable. You'd think it'd taste shitty for a mid-world wasteland, but the burger was one of the best in all the worlds, just like the man had said.

"So, anyway," Ashley said, inbetween chews. "You have a way of actually locating the inventor of the Sidera? It doesn't sound easy."

Carter stuffed more fries into his mouth. "I don't know. We'll have to think of a way when we get there."

Ashley nodded, and then stuffed her face.

"Ashley?"

She looked up, to see Luke coming towards her. "Luke?"

"Yo! Where the hell have you been?" Tucker asked, as he entered the diner. "We've been looking all over for you!"

"You have?"

"No, we're just on our way to some city so I can have porn," Tucker said, ruining the moment. "But, hey, we found you."

Luke rolled his eyes. "You took too long in that test thing, so we left on a mission for...Joe, that robot guy," he informed her. "We're heading to Guirel to tell some Keyes guy a message."

"Guirel?" Carter asked. "You know that place is about to be attacked, right?" He wiped the grease off his chin with some brown paper napkins. "It might not be smart to go there."

Ashley nodded. "Yeah. And are you talking about Captain Jacob Keyes? Of the Pillar of Autumn?"

Luke shrugged. "Maybe. I wouldn't know."

Scarfing down the rest of her burger, Ashley stood up. "The message might have something to do with the attack, so we need to get it there just in case," she said. "We better get going. Like right now."

And so, the four left the diner. And then they realized that they wouldn't all fit in the rusty pickup, and would have to embark on foot. The trip would take several days, and their first rest area was the ruins of Madrigil.

**Somewhere along a State Road in Rutherford, NC, USA, Prime World**

**October 22, 2013**

I had my earbuds in, listening to the radio as I walked. Emblem 3 "3,000 miles" was playing, reminding me of my own home thirty miles away. I sighed, and glanced down at Shade. She was casually walking next to me.

Night was beginning to fall, and I quickened my pace. Night would be the time the demons came out, if they made it through. Night would be hell.

Shade matched my pace, which was easy for her, since she had four legs. We were almost to Kara's house, as in I could see it in the distance.

The two story brick house slowly grew larger and larger as we approached it, and from what I could see, there were no cars in the driveway. But, some lights were on, meaning that there could be someone there.

I broke out into a full run, with Shade doing the same. There's nothing quite like the feeling of doing hard work to obtain something, and then seeing it within you grasp. That'll make you do harder work, and you'll get it sooner.

My feet pounded on the asphalt as I ran, kicking up some dust. I wasn't the best athlete in the world, but I know I'm not the worst.

Street lights started activating, providing me some places to rest in the light. "I don't even know if they're here," I muttered to myself, trying to give any comfort I could. I knew for fact that even I doubted it. The demons were undoubtly here.

Stronger than anything Giovanni could make. Armed with weapons that would put a Super Cruiser to shame. Standing as tall as Hunters, hell, some ever were Hunters. Demons were the true forces of darkness.

I stood in the bright solace of a streetlight, watching the surrounding woods of any sign of the demons. When I saw none, I made my move.

Sprinting as fast as I could, I ran toward Kara's house. I was so close. Finally, I ran up her driveway and onto her porch. Panting, I knocked on the door.

There was some movement inside the house, and I composed myself. Straighting my jacket, combing down my messy red hair with my fingers and the like. Okay, maybe I liked her. Fine, you really want to know? Yes, she was my first crush, and that flame never really died.

The door slowly opened, and Kara stared out at me. She was an inch shorther than me, light skin, brown hair, and matching hazel eyes. "Hi," I said awkwardly, giving a small wave. "It's been a while."

"It has," she said. "I saw you on the news. Said you went missing." She motioned me inside, and I went in, looking around.

"Yeah, it's hard to remain anonymous when you face is on TV," I told her, noting the same furniture that had been here the one time I visited her house five years ago. It was modern style, but...I can't really describe the scene in full detail. (Kara doesn't want me to in case Giovanni's men can use it to track her down and lead them to me. Doesn't make sense, since I gave the city and state, but I respect her wishes.)

"Why are you running?" Kara asked, walking over to the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of Coke. At first, I thought she would be an angel and offer it to me, but she unscrewed the cap and took a big swig of it herself.

Hiding my slight disappointment, I told her all that had been happening. "Well, six guys showed up at my school, and shot the place up trying to kill me. They're hunting me down, I know that much. So, I ran. And here I am."

She blinked, holding back surprise. "Wow, that's...horrible. Why did you come here? Why not go to the police? They can help you better than I can."

"Maybe not," I said, taking a deep breath. This was going to be hard. "If I told them the whole truth, they'd think I was crazy. You will too."

"What is it? It can't be anything worse than some of the things my sister says when she's buzzed."

"It's all related to the Sidera," I said, glancing down at the floor. I couldn't bear to make eye contact with her. "You remember that poem I wrote years ago, right?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, but that was just that, a poem. Meant for entertainment. Nothing more."

I shook my head. "That's what I though, but then, this voice came to my head. Just like the deity of the well. Kara, this is for real."

Kara laughed, and sat on the couch. "This is bull. It's almost Halloween, and you're just pulling a prank, right?"

"What'll it take to convince you?" I asked. "Would I have to take you there?"

I can do that for you...it's what's next...

That's scary. Wait...oh shit.

"That would help," Kara replied, saracastically. "While we're there, why don't we meet with Ashley and the other two. Get real or get out."

Anger rose inside of me. I hated being called a liar, and I ofter looked for epic ways to prove that I was right. This was the perfect chance.

What was I doing?

I held my hand out to her. "Then take my hand if you don't believe me."

Kara stared at me. "This isn't funny." She stood up and grabbed my hand. "Do something. Anything." Shade ran over and stood next to me, loyal to me although I met her an hour ago.

 _Do your thing,_ I told the voice. _I'm ready._

 _No_. _No you're not. But, it is my will that you will be there. That is the way to win against the evil._

The ground began to shake, and rings of green light formed around us. Kara's jaw dropped in shock, and she tried to break free and run. There was a flash of light...and then nothing.

When I woke, I was in the land of my own creation.


	10. Old Friends

**Siderian Wastes,**   
**September 7**

"Oh great, you broke it!" 

"What? No I didn't! The robot was like that to begin with!"

"Tucker, just don't touch anything else," Ashley pleaded, cutting into Luke and Tucker's argument. The teal non-Spartan was holding the head of Luke's droid, while Luke walked alongside of him, arms folded and his robot stuffed into a sack on his back.

Carter glanced back, but then resumed his lead. He pretty much had made himself the de facto ruler of the group, since he had experience in that area. Miranda simply walked at the back of the group, watching their interactions with some disapproval.

Tucker handed the gold-plated head to Luke. "Here," he said. "Now, where are we? Because I'm still saying that we're out in the middle of nowhere."

"We are in the middle of nowhere," Ashley told him. "We're in the middle of nowhere in a desert world in the middle of nowhere. Life just sucks, right?"

"That's not the only thing that sucks..."

The whole group groaned, and Ashley punched him in the shoulder. That had been the seventh perverted comment in the last twenty minutes. It was also the least perverted amongst them.

In the distance, ruins of buildings poked up from the sandy ground, with piles of concrete beneath each building. There was a large amount of buildings, the whole city spanning farther than they could see. The only hitch was that it was a dead city, with every building laying in heaps of ruins.

There was a metal sign post, but it was written in the native language of the Sidera, which appeared to be glyphs, sort of like the Covenants, but different.

"This is the ruined city of Madrigil," Miranda translated, being the only one who could read the text. "Two hundred years ago, they went to war with Guriel, and came out as the loser," she looked up at the ruins. "But...that's sorta obvious."

"Didn't that waiter guy say that the ruins were haunted?" Ashley asked, looking over at Carter. "I mean, I don't believe in ghosts, but its still creepy."

Carter looked back into the ruins, looking around. "I think we should check it out anyway. Could be something valuble in there."

"No way, dude," Tucker protested. "There's no way you're getting me to go into some scary-ass ruins. I prefer to stay out here. Unless there's internet in there."

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Okay, then, who's going in?" No one volunteered. "So it's just me and Carter, then?"

Shrugging, Carter took his DMR off his back. "I guess so. Get that primitive shotgun of yours ready, we might need it." He turned to Tucker. "Give me your Energy Sword," he ordered.

Tucker shook his head. "No can do. It only works for me."

Carter just gave him a blank stare. Then he reached his hand out. "Just give it to me."

"Fine." Tucker tore the hilt off his hip and tossed it to Carter. "Hope it works," he remarked snidely.

Carter caught it and flicked his wrist in the same motion, but the sword remained deactivated. He tried again and again, but the blades never appeared. "It's empty," Carter simply said, tossing it back to Tucker.

Tucker caught it, and flicked his wrist. The blades instantly activated. "I told you, it only works for me. So get your own."

Scrowling, Carter turned to Ashley. "Well then, shall we?"

"Let's shall."

Carter took point into the ruins, DMR raised as he naviagted down an wrecked street. It resembled almost every human city in exsistance. Street lights were knocked over and rusted, while cars of a futuristic model rested in the streets, immobile for two centuries.

There wasn't any sign of movement, until...

"Twenty yards," Carter informed Ashley. "Check you motion tracker."

Ashley glanced at the blue circle, and saw the two red dots headed towards them from the east. The amount of rubble in between them prevented them from seeing the newcomers, and vice-versa.

"Take cover," Carter ordered, as he walked over to a ruined builing, climbing up the crumbling exterior to the second floor. Ashley went through the blasted open doors, and hid behind the wall. "They're coming into visual now."

Ashley slowly peeked out of cover, carefull not to expose too much of herself. She nealy groaned when she saw the two newcomers. "Why are there Elites here?"

The two Majors muttered to themselves in Sangheili, before continuing on their patrol. "We should take them out," Carter said, lining up the one the left. "You take the one on the right."

"Should I run out of cover, or throw a grenade?"

"You could've used you MA37, but no, you traded that away," Carter replied.

"Still sore about that?"

"It was a better weapon."

Ashley shrugged. "I'll just hit him with the shotgun," she replied, taking her weapon off her back, and pumping it. "Shouldn't be too hard. Start shooting when I take out the first one."

She crouched low, and slowly crept toward the Elite. Both of the red-armored aliens were completely oblivious to her, continuing to chat with each other.

Looking down at her shotgun, she realized that it wouldn't pack the punch that the MA37 would've. But, she really like the weapon, and raised it at the back of the left Elite. She knew that it was the one that Carter was aiming at.

"Wait, don't pull the-"

There was a loud bang, and the Elite's head went sailing away from its body trailing purple blood as it went. The second Elite jerked around and roared the the sight of a demon. It brought its Plasma Rifle to bear, when its mandibles recieve a nice thrust from Ashley's knife. Both Elites down in a matter of seconds. Perfect.

"You shouldn't have done that," Carter said, "What if there are more? They would've heard that."

Ashley shrugged. "That's a logical fallacy, by the way. Using 'what if.'"

"I don't care," Carter snapped. "But there's got to be more of them, since I'm sure that two Majors wouldn't be in this city alo-agh!" he cried out it pain as an Energy Sword pierced his abdomen, and he was thrown out the window.

"Carter!" Ashley exclaimed, running over. She didn't make it to him, as an Elite General jumped down, sword in hand. Ashley pumped the shotgun again, ready to fire. She brought up the weapon as the Elite charged at her, and fired.

The shields of the General held, but took major damage. No pun intended. It roared, and sliced her weapon with the sword, and prepared for a fatal swing. It swung at her, trying to cut her head off.

Ashley ducked under it, and made a break for it by running under the Elite's shoulder. Carter's DMR was on the ground just feet from his body, and the orange Spartan reached down and grabbed it as she ran by.

When she figured that she was a good distance away from the Elite, she turned and fired, only to see the Elite almost a meter away. To close for comfort. The DMR rounds cuased the General to recoil, buying her time.

The shielding was too stong, and each round pinged off like a toothpick shot at a steel wall. Ashley was backing up as she fired, with the Elite grabbing his Concussion Rifle.

Her rifle clicked empty, and with a curse, Ashley turned and hauled ass out of there, making a break for the exit. Bright rounds of plasma energy flew by her head and blasted chunks off of old walls, raining concrete powder down on her.

The others were standing around as Ashley ran out. "What's up?" Tucker asked, and then a concussion round flew by his head. "Oh shit, big scary alien." He activated his sword as Ashley stole the BR55 off his back.

"Um...would this help?" Luke asked, handing her a cylanderical object from behind his cover, or in this case, Ashley.

Ashley took it, and depressed a red button on it. A blue beam hissed out, humming with energy. "Stylish," she commented, raising the Battle Rifle with her other hand.

The General had abandoned his Concussion Rifle, and was now charging at them with an Energy Sword in each hand. Miranda's hand flew to her holster, and she drew her .44 revolver, and opened up. Ashley chimed in with support fire from her BR55.

The bullets had some effect, but the Elite was too close. Ashley dropped the rifle and invested all of her hope into Luke's laser sword. With a swift swing, she hit the Elite right in the neck.

Shielding faring up, the Elite roared in surprise. It jumped back, and began to back away slowly, hoping to buy some time for its shields to recover. Ashley stooped and retrieve her Battle Rifle, and dropped the sword to the ground, putting the General's head directly in the sights.

Three squeezes of the trigger later, the Elite was quiet and on the ground, blood pouring from the multiple head wounds. "Tucker, take its weapons," she ordered, tossing the rifle back.

Ashley sighed. Carter was dead, less than a day after she first met him. He was the only one from her own world, and that gave her some sense of comfort. Luke took his sword from the ground, and reattached it to his belt.

"What about this?" Tucker asked, holding up some sort of amulet that the Elite had been wearing. It was a disk with a green emerald in the middle, and some sort of runes engraved on to the disk.

Mouth hanging open from behind her helmet, Ashley took the object. "Tucker, do you know what this is?"

"No."

"It's one of the eight keystones," she said, in utter bewilderment. "Giovanni has four, and we have one."

Miranda shot her a look. "And these keystones do what?"

"They can allow someone to pass through to the Prime World," Ashley explained. "We can use this to beat Giovanni."

"Um...Isn't he some sort of god?" Luke asked. "I think we'd need all eight or something to beat him. And that would mean that we'd have to get the ones he has."

Ashley shook her head. "Carter and I developed a plan. If we get to the Prime World, we can find the person that invented the Sidera, and have him simply delete Giovanni from all of this, and put us back in our own worlds."

There was a breif silence, that Tucker shattered. "Can I have some of whatever it is you're smoking? And where is that ass-wipe Carter?"

"He's dead," Ashley said grimly, looking back into the ruined city.

"Good," Tucker added, folding his arms. "I never really liked him anyway."

Miranda glared at him. "He was a living person, you know. Not some object. You can't just think of his death as a good thing." Luke nodded in agreement.

"Well, so what?"

Ashley rolled her eyes and shoved the keystone into her pocket. "Forget it, we need to get moving. There might be more Elites in that city, and I don't want to be here when they find out we killed their General."

And with that, the four of them continued onward, heading for the mountains in the distance to warn Guriel of the attack and to deliver the message to Jacob Keyes.

**Blue Base, Valhalla**   
**September 7**

"So, Tucker just dissappeared?" Simmons asked, staring at Chruch. "That doesn't happen in reality. Only in the movies."

"Listen red," Chruch said, "all I know is that he vanished into thin air after messing with that thingy there," he pointed to the machine in the center of the base. "Caboose hasn't stopped bitching about it, and I have a fucking headache. I don't have time for this shit, just figure out how to get him back."

Simmons glanced over at the machine, and then back at Church. "What makes you think I would know what to do?"

"You're the genius, right?"

"Well..."

"Fix it."

Simmons sighed and shook his head. "I don't know how. These were Freelancer bases when we got them, so they would probably know how to use them."

Church stared at him. "We're not calling in a Freelancer. Do you remember what happened last time we did that?"

Simmons nodded, remembering the time that Tex had beaten the shit out of him. "Let's not call them. I think I might be able to fix it..." he punched the machine. Nothing. "That didn't work."

"Well, duh."

"Church!" Caboose called as he ran into the base, tripping over a crate. "Church!"

"Oh god," Church muttered. "What?"

"Uh, do you remember when that alien ship crashed next to our base, the one that had Tucker's baby in it?"

"That was yesterday, dumbass. How could I forget?"

"Well, there's more people there now."

Church sighed and looked over at Simmons. "This is how this has been all day. Caboose will say something stupid, and I get mad. Bliss."

Simmons shrugged. "Maybe you should go look. What could it hurt?"

Church groaned. "Fine, Caboose stay here, I want the red to come with me. That way I won't have to team kill later. Unlike someone."

Simmons followed Church out of the base, and over to the wrecked ship. "Hey, can I analyze some of the wreckage? There could be something interesting in there."

"No." Church answered curtly. "Wow, Caboose was right," he said, pointing at two figures laying on the ground, out cold.

They were both teens, one male, one female. The male had red hair, a jacket, and a bag over his shoulder. The female had long brunette hair. There was a black cat perched on a bent piece of purple metal from the ship.

"That's new," Simmons commented.


	11. Under the Stars

 

Siderian Wasteland  
September 7

Stars sparkled in the sky, a mess of beauty.

They sat in silence as the fire crackled in front of them, casting an orange glow in a short circle around them. Ashley was out of her armor, sitting in her undersuit. The orange metal armor was sitting nearby, covered in a gray stained blanket, with the UNSC logo in the corner.

Not much had been said since Carter died. No one really knew him like Ashley did, even though he didn't know her. That was what Ashley had been trying to put together. How could he have not known her? She had been the replacement for Jorge. She had seen him die on the Scarab.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind, Spartan," Miranda said, poking at the fire with a dead, withered tree branch. "Care to talk about it?"

Ashley sighed, and remained quiet for several seconds. "This whole thing is completely impossible," she replied. "We're stuck in some sort of afterlife, hunting down some god-like man who wants to dominate the worlds. He's got far more tech than we do, and we don't stand a chance against him. Hell, we don't even understand why we're here."

She paused. "All I want to do is go home. See Six, get on with life, end the damn war. But, no, I'm caught up in this impossible nightmare." Ashley looked up at Miranda. "Have you ever been taken from someone you loved? Someone you couldn't live without?"

Miranda Keyes bit her lip, and looked at Luke. He was asleep, curled up into a ball with another stained blanket. Tucker was several yards away, behind a rock doing...well, you can probably guess. "Yeah, several times."

"You wanna talk about it? We are the only two here."

"Only if you promise not to tell anyone."

"Done."

Miranda took a deep breath, and brushed some strands of hair away from her face. "Well, the first time, I was fourteen, I there was this guy I liked at school. David was his name. My dad, Jacob Keyes, didn't really like him, so the first chance he got, he moved us off planet."

Ashley chuckled. "That's a little harsh, isn't it?"

Miranda shrugged. "Dad simply claimed that it was his work that made him move. After all, being a UNSC captain was a demanding job." She gave a hesistant puase. "It wasn't until years later that I discovered that he moved because of the Spartan project."

"Which one? IIs or IIIs?"

"That's the problem," Miranda said. "I know he worked on the IIs, but at the time it would be after that. It might've been for the IIIs, but I don't think he actually worked for them."

Ashley thought. "What if there was another generation? Niether IIs or IIIs? When us IIIs were augmented, there were ten that we augmented differently."

"What do you mean?" Miranda asked. "I've fought alongside several Spartans, most of them IIIs. There was Master Chief, he was a II."

"Well, when Six was augmented," Ashley said, "he came out a few inches shorter than the other males. He was just as tall as the females. Some were taller. He got bullied for that...and then..." her voice trailed off, as haunting memories came back. "But anyway, that might count for something. He used to tell me that he overheard that he was some special Spartan."

"Hm..." Miranda thought it over. "Maybe. What would that make him? A 3.5?"

"Probably," Ashley agreed. "So, anyway, back to the topic."

Miranda smiled. "It's your turn. I already went."

"Six. I'll be blunt. During training, we fell in love, and I was going to be put on his team. But then something else popped up, and we never saw each other until Reach," Ashley said. "Now it's your turn again."

"That was short," Miranda pointed out. "So I'll make this one short. "There was this Sergant named Johnson. I liked him, and I think he liked me, but we never really did anything formal. We were so close to being together," she paused for effect, "and then the son of a bitch Truth shot me in the back and killed me."

"That's gotta suck," Ashley said.

"Yep. Your turn."

"But, I don't have anymore."

"I did two, you have to do two."

Ashley groaned, and thought. "Well, there was this time where I...well...how to say it? Experimented around, I guess. It was shortly after my augmentations, and my team, Viper Team, was out on their first assignment. Carrie and I were in an underground bunker, with our armor on the other side of the base. The Covenant suddenly showed up, catching us off guard. The tunnel collasped, and we were cut off from the rest of the team, and our armor. We couldn't go out the manhole above us, since the Covenant were literally right there. So, it was just me and Carrie, alone in the bunker, in our undersuits." She looked down at herself. "Sorta like this, and things got...interesting, to say the least. We were really bored."

Miranda giggled. "You'll have to go into more detail than that. After all, it's just the two of us here."

"Well-"

"Don't!" wailed Luke. "At least let me fall asleep first!"

"Wait, you've been awake for how long?" Ashley asked. "How much did you hear?"

"The whole thing," Luke replied, shifting his position, trying to get comfortable. "And don't worry, I won't tell Tucker."

"You better not," Miranda warned, flopping on to her back. "I'm getting some shut eye now."

Ashley nodded, and stared into the flames. A faint smile came to her lips, as she remembered her first night in this whole confusion. She, Grif, and Tucker camped out in what she now knew as Tatooine, where she met Luke. At that time, she never even considered the possibility of this Sidera.

She looked up at the sky. There was a red star brightly visible in the sky, with several smaller white stars appearing to spiral out from it. Other stars crossed into the spiral, seeming to spiral from their own red star.

A wave of nostolgia passed over her. She longed to be home. In the world where everything made sense. With Six... She pulled out the keystone that they had obtained, and ran her finger over the runes. She had seen them somewhere...but where? And why did the Elite have it?

None of this made sense. She was in a world that defied everything that she had been taught. It was neither heaven nor hell, but it felt like it was purgatory. A world between paradise and the inferno.

She stressed her mind, pressing it to release the location that she had seen the glyphs before, but all it did was push it back ever farther.

"Screw it." Ashley tossed the keystone into the bag, and stared again into the raging fire. Her thoughts wandered to the Prime World. What was it like? Was it some highly advanced culture, where they had high tech machines that could rip gaps in space and time to create worlds? Or did it have something to do with magic. Or...what was it like?

What was happening there right now?

Kara McKinney's House, North Carolina, USA, Prime World  
November 1, 2013

Police cars sat outside, their lights flashing. FBI Agent Miller sighed as he took in the scene. _They think it's another simple kidnapping,_ he thought, walking up onto the porch. _It's far more than that._

Miller had been put on a special assignment three years ago, when someone reported that he had been attacked by some dark entity after reading a poem that a friend of his son had wrote.

At first, the Federal Bereau of Invesitgation had simply passed it off as another person getting mugged and over exaggerating the story. But, when the FBI found that the poem had given an accurate description of the entity, and the man had taken a picture as the creature fled, Miller was the only one who was willing to take the case. He was the only one that was willing to believe.

Miller pushed to door open, and walked into the house. The parents were being questioned by the sergant, with the father answering most of the question. The mother was in tears. He went over to them.

"I don't mean to interrupt," he said, "but I want to take a look at her room," he said, holding out his wallet with the FBI badge. "It's rather important."

The father nodded and pointed down the hall. "Third room on the left."

Miller nodded his thanks, and casually walked down the hall. The girl's room was rather expected, with pictures of her favorite bands, Skillet and Kutlass, hanging all along the walls. Her bed sat in the middle, and there was a computer sitting on a desk.

He walked over and shook the mouse, bring the computer screen back to life. She had three internet tabs up. Facebook, AO3, and FanFiction. With a hint of curiousity, he clicked one each one, hoping to find something that would help. The first two were fruitless.

When he clicked on the last one, it brought him to a page with a thin blue banner across the top, and the words; "FanFiction.net, Unleash your imagination." On the other side was her pen name, Zekshiram.

Miller clicked on it, and after several minutes of searching, he found that she had one published story, and that she hadn't worked on it. Clicking the red x in the corner of the screen, Miller abandoned that search.

He went back to searching around the room. Then his eyes rested on the picture on the back of the door.

It was of a large alien creature, its orange wormed body covered in heavy armored. However, this Hunter was different from the others. It's armor was a pitch black, and the heavy assault cannon had a blood red tint to it.

Miller smiled. A drawing of a demon. So she did have a connection... He redoubled his efforts, searching every nook and cranny of her room, searching for one thing in particular. And then he found it, stuffed into a bedside table's drawer.

A sheet of paper, folded several times. At the top were the words:

The Tale of The Sidera

There it was. She had a copy of the poem. Miller read over the stanzas, remembering the first time had read it. Ever since then, he'd been hunting down this mysterious writer, named Trevor White.

Miller had always been into the supernatural, but when these demons started popping up so many years ago, he had been intrigued. He needed to find the author, discover how he knew of their exsistance.

There was a knock on the door. Miller looked up to see the sergeant standing there. "Yes?"

"Do you recall that other teen who was reported missing?" the sergeant asked. "The boy?"

Miller smiled. How could he forget? It was the author. "Yes, what about him?"

"The parents claim that they were friends," the sergeant replied. "And his parents said that they knew that he had a secret crush on her."

Miller shrugged. "And you think that relates the cases?"

The sergeant nodded. "If he liked her, then maybe he convinced her to come with him and they ran from home. The girl's parents admitted that she felt somewhat neglected, proving a good cause of running away."

"I see," Miller said. "And if you're wrong?"

"Well, there's always the chance that the boy's the one who kidnapped her. Driven by rage over unrequited love, he easily could've taken her by force and done what he wanted to her."

Shaking his head, Miller rolled his shoulders adjusting his jacket. "No. He wouldn't do that kind of thing. But we have to find him. I need to talk to him and get some info out of him. And then, he's history." Miller patted his 9mm pistol and walked out of the room, leaving a stunned sergeant.

End of Part I


End file.
